The moist air of the Aimee and Patrick Butler Center engulfed the spectators eagerly awaiting the Laker Invitational Saturday morning. The meet, organized by Minneapolis South, occurred at St. Catherine University. Freshman Avi Coleman, the only diver on the Sparks Swim and Dive co-op between SPA and Highland, prepared poolside for what she explained would be the most challenging meet of the season thus far.

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Clara McKoy

ANTICIPATION. Coleman hovers behind the diving boards as she waits to perform her back one-and-a-half tuck. With a watchful eye on her competitors, she patiently anticipated her turn to step onto the board.

Competing just two days after a meet at Humboldt, Coleman anticipated an incredibly challenging morning. She performed six dives: inward dive pike, inward one-and-a-half tuck, back one-and-a-half tuck, front double tuck, reverse dive tuck, and front flip whole twist. Coleman has been pushing herself throughout the season to improve and break personal records.

“This meet and the meet I had on Thursday had the highest total difficulty level that I’ve done all season—actually in general,” she said.

As she lined up behind the diving boards before each dive, Coleman went through the motions of the dive she was about to perform. Her second and third dives, inward one-and-a-half tuck and back one-and-a-half tuck, required extra precision and focus—they were the most difficult Coleman attempted at the meet.

“I’m the most scared of my second and third dives because my second one can get close to the board sometimes, and I’m scared of being close. My third one is hard, I’ve smacked on it a bunch,” she said.

With no other Sparks divers to accompany her at the meet, Coleman slipped on her black Beats headphones during downtime. What did she listen to? Taylor Swift.

“At longer meets, I get kind of bored and I don’t like having to wait a long time in between a dive, so I kind of just listen to music to calm myself and focus,” she said. “I’m a Swiftie.”

Coleman placed 13 out of 28 divers with a total score of 154.20. Her inward dive pike earned the highest score of the six she competed, with a net score of 18.5. While disappointed in her performance, Coleman is confident in her abilities moving forward. She won’t let one rough meet shake her.

“[In terms of] progress in diving, you have to think about that it’s not linear, it doesn’t just keep getting better,” she said. “I’ll have on and off days.”

With hopes to win her conference meet and qualify for state, Coleman plans to carry this attitude with her for the rest of the season. She and other Sparks athletes will compete on Thursday at 4:15 against Humboldt at Humboldt High School.