Peabody and Tuller Dive into NEISDA Championships this Weekend

KEENE, N.H.  2/8/12 – The championship portion of the Keene State College swim season begins this weekend when senior Derek Peabody (Haverhill, Mass.) and sophomore Joshua Tuller (Plainview, N.Y.) compete in the diving events at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA) championships at UMass-Dartmouth. (Keene State doesn't have a competitor in the women's diving field.) Athletes have to finish in the top six to earn All-NEISDA honors.

The one-meter competition will be held on Saturday, with the three-meter event the following day. Points accumulated in diving are added to swimming scores to determine an overall champion. The swim races will be held Feb.17-19 at the Upper Valley Aquatics Center in White River Junction, Vt. The Keene State men are three-time champs, while the Owl women, who finished second last year, won consecutive titles from 2008-10. 

"We really buckled down when we got back from Florida in early January," said Tuller. "We got a bunch of new dives. Now we're just hoping to make them great for the New Englands and win."

"At this stage of the season, we're not doing anything new," said Peabody. "We're just trying to perfect and refine our dives and have a good performance this weekend." 

Peabody has improved every year at the championships, placing third in the one-meter event and fifth in the three-meter board last season. "I don't go in with any expectations," he said. "I have some dives on my checklist of I wanted to do before I finish up with the sport, so I'm happy with what I've accomplished. I'm just looking to finish strong."

Making his first appearance at the championships last season, Tuller finished fourth in the one-meter and fifth in the three-meter event. He's setting his goals high this weekend. "Hopefully, I can win three-meter," he said. "One-meter is up in the air – I'm looking to get first or second."

Although he won't make a prediction, Keene State diving coach Dave Mason has high hopes for his two divers. "If they dive at their ability they should be right there with the top divers. But don't forget, everyone else will be stepping up their game up too," he cautioned.

"Both divers have made huge improvements this season," Mason added. "Derek has added more finesse and polish to his dives and is now able to pinpoint the distinct differences that separate a great dive from a good dive. Being a sophomore, Josh has had to change his philosophy to get to the next level. He's learned the hard way. Once in a while, he'll crash and burn and then get up and say, 'You're right, coach.'"

Each competitor will do 11 dives in the preliminary round (six volunteered and five that are required). The top six divers return in the evening for the finals, where they do their six most-difficult dives again. 

According to Mason, the scoring is subjective. "It's all how you present yourself," he said. "However, judges perceive things differently. That's when you have discrepancies in scoring."

Keene State swim coach Jack Fabian says the points acquired in diving are crucial to the team's ability to win the overall championship. "It's always important because our major competitor (Bentley) has great diving," he said. "If you want to have a great swimming program, you have to have great diving." 

Tuller says he treats the championship like any other meet.  "Yes, it's a bigger meet for us because it's the championships and we're going against a lot more people, but to me it's just another meet," he said. "It doesn't do any good to worry about the other divers. I just have to worry about myself."