Name: Alex Pfisterer
Year: Sophomore
Major: Communication Studies
Hometown: Mohnton, PA
We’re diving in with this week’s Campus Celeb, Alex Pfisterer, a three time Big East Championship medalist to hear what he has to say about being a student athlete.
Athletics are an integral part of the Seton Hall community, you can spot the athletes anywhere with those blue Under Armour backpacks and Gatorade water bottles. But being a student athlete isn’t all about the swag. Sophomore diver, Alex Pfisterer loves the community aspect of being on a Seton Hall team.
“You get to meet a lot of people and travel across the country to compete. We’re like a family, and we have each other’s support. That’s the best thing.”
Seton Hall is home to 14 varsity athletics programs. They compete in the Big East Conference at the Division I level. As a member of the Swimming and Diving team, Alex spends six days a week in the pool during the season, with a lifting schedule on top of that, as well as his academics. Athletes have a lot on their plates.
“There’s always support from the athletic academic center. If you need help you can always ask for it. I make sure I get to all my classes and pay attention, I try and stay on top of things.”
Diving may not be the most popular sport, but it’s definitely a fun one to watch. At the collegiate level, divers compete on both one meter and three meter diving boards. Some conferences also compete platform which goes all the way up to 10 meters high. When asked how he got into the sport, Alex responded
“When I was younger, I was always that kid who would jump off the diving board and just do crazy flips and stuff. My freshman year of high school my friend suggested I go out for the dive team, and I finally did my sophomore year and the rest is history I guess.”
Divers are required to compete six dives on both one and three meter boards. Each dive must be from a different category: forwards, backwards, reverse, inwards, and twisting. The numerical system they use is too complicated to explain, but each category is represented by a set of numbers, identifying which category and how many rotations someone is doing. One of the first questions people ask when you tell them you’re a diver is “What’s the craziest dive you can do?”
“Probably inward 2 ½ (flips) on one meter. I like doing that one because it’s challenging and a little scary.”
Although we may not know exactly what that means, we do know that Alex is a celeb in the diving field and will continue to be for a long time.