Pelletier, Kaliszak And Other Local Graduates Star At SEC Swim/Dive Meet

  • Tuesday, February 21, 2017
  • John Shearer
UT diving coach Dave Parrington, left, and Emily Pelletier
UT diving coach Dave Parrington, left, and Emily Pelletier
photo by John Shearer
When Baylor School graduate Emily Pelletier reached the water of the diving well at the University of Tennessee’s Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center last Friday, she was diving down 10 meters from the highest platform.
 
But the Tennessee Vol diver’s journey to becoming a coveted top eight finalist in the Southeastern Conference swimming and diving championships in Knoxville has been upward a good distance, even on that day.
 
After having to overcome a mistake in one of her dives in the preliminaries, she was still able to qualify in dramatic fashion for the finals that night, when she finished in seventh place with 259.90 points.
 
Although college divers usually experience a more anonymous existence than fellow student athletes in higher-profile sports, reaching the finals was a special treat for Ms.
Pelletier. A main reason was that no swimming events took place, and all the members of the swim teams of schools with divers in the finals sat around the diving pool and, along with parents and others in the stands, cheered loudly.
 
“It’s absolutely nuts,” the sophomore daughter of Paul and Tina Pelletier excitedly recalled the next day. “It is its own experience for sure. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Having my whole team behind me was awesome.”
 
And just getting to the finals required overcoming some adversity in the preliminaries caused by one poor score on a dive.
 
“I wasn’t so sure if I would make it, so being able to come back at night was awesome,” she said.
 
If not adversity, Ms. Pelletier in her overall career has had to overcome other interests after being considered a top diver nationally when she was just getting started.
 
“When she was a young diver and young age grouper, she was one of the top 10 or so divers in the country,” recalled the longtime UT diving coach Dave Parrington, who has produced numerous top college divers, including current UT male diver Liam Stone.
 
“Through her mid-teen years and high school years, she wasn’t as involved in USA diving. She was doing some high school diving and doing OK. She had a lot of other interests. But when it came time to going to college, she got back into it. I knew her and offered her a spot on the team and she’s come in and been an incredible team person.”
 
Coach Parrington added that she has worked very hard during her two years at UT, and he was quite pleased to see her achieve the milestone of being a finalist at the SEC meet.
 
“Last year she came up a little shy of it, and that gave her inspiration to know she could do it,” he said. “And there’s a lot more for her to improve on, so I’m excited for what comes down the road.”
 
She also scored 62 points better in the 1-meter springboard in the SECs than last year, so all this rapid improvement has her dreaming of other achievements before her career ends.
 
“Hopefully I can make a couple more finals at the SECs and qualify for the NCAAs and maybe final at the NCAAs one year,” said the animal science/pre-veterinary medicine major, who grew up in East Brainerd. “That would be awesome.”
 
Ms. Pelletier was just one of several local divers or swimmers who took part last week in the prestigious and competitive meet, which was won by the Florida men and the Texas A&M women and featured several former Olympians.
 
Other locals included Vol swimmer Sam McHugh, fellow Tennessee diver Michael Howell, South Carolina diver Marissa Roth, Alabama swimmer Luke Kaliszak, Auburn swimmer Breanna Roman, and Georgia swimmer Kimberlee John-Williams.
 
Mr. McHugh, Mr. Kaliszak, Ms. Roman and Ms. John-Williams also went to Baylor, while Ms. Roth – a former state diving champion -- went to Signal Mountain High and Mr. Howell attended McCallie.
 
Other Chattanooga graduates to finish in the top eight as finalists included Mr. McHugh, who came in seventh in the 400-yard individual medley (3 minutes, 44.70 seconds in the short course).
 
Mr. Kaliszak had a second-place individual finish in the 100-yard backstroke (45.03) and was fifth place in the 100-yard butterfly (46.03), losing to winner and former Olympic medalist Caeleb Dressel of Florida. Mr. Kaliszak was also a member of the Crimson Tide’s second-place 200-medley relay and third-place 200-free relay teams.
 
“It went really well for me,” he said Saturday night after the meet ended. “I’m not 100 percent rested, so I’m really happy with the progress I’ve had and I’m looking forward to the NCAAs in a couple of weeks.”
 
A junior who hopes to go to medical school, Mr. Kaliszak spent four years at Baylor as a boarding student from Huntsville, Ala., before graduating in 2014. He credits the training as a student and as a swimmer under coach Dan Flack with helping him.
 
“That was everything to me,” he said. “That was building my foundation. It taught me how to be a (high-level) athlete. Everything I do now comes from habits I learned while I was at Baylor. Most everything comes from that foundation and contributed to the success I’ve gotten today.”
 
While Ms. Pelletier said she spoke to former Baylor teammate Ms. Roman for the first time in awhile at the meet, Mr. Kaliszak said he is still a close friend of Mr. McHugh and also saw Ms. John-Williams.
 
He is also enjoying the community feel at Alabama. “It’s freaking awesome,” he said. “It’s hard to put it in words, what it is like to be a part of a team that gets so much support from the community. I’ve gotten so close on the guy’s side and I’m so grateful to be a part of it, especially being from Alabama.”
 
He said he has even become acquainted with a number of players from the Crimson Tide’s perennially successful football program, saying he has had classes with some of them.
 
Ms. Pelletier is grateful for her time at Tennessee, too, working under coach Parrington.
 
“I came here for diving,” she said. “Whenever Dave gave me the opportunity, I accepted. He’s awesome. I love Dave. He’s a great coach.”
 
Jcshearer2@comcast.net
Alabama swimmer Luke Kaliszak
Alabama swimmer Luke Kaliszak
photo by John Shearer
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