Skidmore’s very own diver Doug Pilawa can truly say he lived his dream, becoming the first Skidmore male athlete ever to earn selection to the NCAA Division III Championships this past March. After Pilawa’s tremendous 4-year diving career at Skidmore, Her Campus sat down with the diving star as he reflected on eight years of hard work that got him to the NCAA Championships.
Her Campus: So tell us about your diving career as a whole—how did you decide to get started as a diver?
Doug Pilawa: I have been diving for eight years. During my freshman year of high school, I heard this announcement over the PA announcing an informational meeting for anyone interested in swimming or diving. I always enjoyed watching the diving events in the Olympics and it sounded interesting, so I figured I would give it a shot!
HC: Tell us about this past season and your most recent achievements.
DP: This season was my best so far on the Skidmore diving team. I broke all four of the Skidmore diving records (records that I myself set during my sophomore year) and I had a perfect dual meet record of 16-0. I was also named the Liberty League co-diver of the year and won the 1meter competition at the RPI Invitational. I won the State Championships, making me the first Skidmore swimmer or diver ever to win at States. At States, I won both the one- and three-meter competitions and set a new conference record on three-meter. I was named Diver of the Meet and was awarded the conference Douglas McDevitt Award for male swimmer or diver scholar athlete. Finally, I went to Division III Nationals!
HC: How did it feel to be the first Skidmore male athlete to earn selection to the NCAA Division III Nationals?
DP: It felt incredible. I’d known that Skidmore had never sent a male swimmer or diver to Nationals and it was always a goal of mine to make it and to represent Skidmore on that level. For eight years, I’ve worked hard in hopes of getting this far and I’m incredibly excited, relieved, and proud at what I’ve accomplished.
HC: What did it take to earn selection for the Division III Nationals?
DP: In order to qualify for NCAA Division III Nationals, a diver has to score a certain amount of points during competition for both the one- and three-meter boards. However, because diving is an objective sport it’s also required that divers send in video footage of a competition during which he or she received these national qualifying scores. After a selection committee reviews the submitted tapes, it only chooses 22 divers from the country to go to Nationals.
HC: Tell us about the experience at Nationals—where did it take place?
DP: Nationals were held in Indianapolis at IUPUI—the headquarters of USA diving—the week after our March spring break. IUPUI has a GORGEOUS pool and I’ve always dreamed of competing there!
HC: Congrats! How was your experience there?
DP: In a standard dual meet, we compete six dives on one-meter and six dives on three-meter. Yet, in a championship meet, like States and Nationals, we compete 11 dives on both boards. There are five categories of dives: front, back, reverse, inward, and twisters—each category and dive is represented by a number. Because most divers speak this way, it may sound weird to someone to overhear a diver saying something like, “I’m going to do 305B.” But, that’s just kind of how we communicate.
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HC: Which dive is your favorite?
DP: My favorite dive on one-meter is 403B, or “Inward 1 1/2 pike.” I stand on the board with my back to the water, and somersault toward the diving board 1 1/2 times. “Pike” designates the position of the diver—my legs are completely straight and against my chest. My favorite dive on three-meter is 5235D, or “Back 1 1/2 somersaults with 2 1/2 twists. Basically, I do 1 1/2 somersaults backwards and twists 2 1/2 times—all at the same time and completely straight. It’s my “bread and butter” dive and it helped win me at States!
HC: And which dive is the most challenging?
DP: I’d say that my most difficult dive is 405C on one-meter. This is also an inward dive except that it requires me to somersault 2 1/2 times. The reason this dive poses such difficulty is mainly because of a mental psyching-out of sorts. In order to generate enough rotation to do the dive correctly, I have to throw really hard towards the diving board and it’s actually incredibly scary (a few times I have come very close to hitting the board). I know that just one mistake in this dive could be disastrous—but, even then, it’s still one of my favorite dives!
HC: What was a typical day like for days of competition and days of practice?
DP: Wake up around 8am
Go to Starbucks
Go to the pool and practice for two hours
Return to the hotel for a little bit
Go back to the pool for either competition or for another practice
Go out to dinner
Come back to the hotel and do homework—yes, I did a lot of homework at the same time
Finally, go to bed and get ready to do the same thing the next day.
HC: How did you place at Nationals?
DP: I came in ninth on both one-meter and three-meter. When the preliminary competition is over, they have what’s called a “consolation final” and it’s for the competitors from ninth place to 16th place. Consolation final is, essentially, another competition and I was really happy to win both of those. The competition was fierce too—I wasn’t in ninth place after prelims so I had to battle to win and that added pressure definitely helped motivate me.
HC: What was the best part about the experience?
DP: The best part (or best parts) was that I knew I was finishing my diving career as a Skidmore Thoroughbred and it was both incredibly exciting and humbling to be first to put Skidmore on the National radar. Also, I was so excited to see my diving coach from my high school and club team at Nationals and I was very happy that he was there to see my last competition. After I dove my last dive and won the one-meter consolation, he came up to me with tears in his eyes and gave me a big hug. The moment was really emotional, yet fulfilling.
HC: Any other remarkable moments from the meet? If so, dish!
DP: I met a couple former Olympians and I even got to watch the USA diving team practice—it was awesome! One former Olympian, Scott Donie, even came up to me after the competition and congratulated me. I nearly melted when he shook my hand and told me he was impressed with my diving. I’m not going to lie, it was one of those moments when I tried sohard to play it cool (he is, after all, one of my all-time idols) and I’m sure I probably sounded a little silly.
Speaking on behalf of the entire HC team, we couldn’t be more proud of this Thoroughbred! Make sure to give Doug a pat on the back the next time you see him and, as always, be sure to support our athletes on the field, on the court, and in the pool.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Skidmore chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.