Diving in your 30s

Question
Hi Tom,
I was a State Champion Diver in High School in 1994, and have  since then pursued other sports.  I am interested in getting back into diving and seeing how it goes.  I have a pipe dream of applying for Cirque Du Soleil's "O".  Do you have suggestions of where to work out in San Francisco or nearby?  Do you know of anyone that took their diving career to "O"?
Thanks for your help,
Jenny

Answer
Hi Jenny -

What a coincidence it is that you have asked this question and I just returned from a few days in Vegas seeing the 'O' show!! It was my second time and was there at the invitation of two divers who are in the show. One is P.J. Bogart who was coached by a good friend of mine from Phoenix and the other is John Maxson who I once coached in the 90's when he was in high school. After the show, I got to go back stage for a tour of all their workout facilities and meet cast members. It was really awesome.

In answer to your question, if you want to start diving again, you are not going to find a place in S.F. with a coach as it is pretty much a non-aquatic city. There are two pools with boards, one at USF and the other at St. Ignatius H.S. but they are only for the students. No diving teams at these pools and no coaches. You are going to have to travel south to Stanford were they have one of the best outdoor pools in the U.S. and a great Masters Diving team (Masters is a term for adult competitive diving). They have the best adult team in the U.S. It is coached by a woman who was an Olympic coach for Finland in 2000. Her name is Tanya. You can contact her by going to www.stanforddiving.org.They practice several days per week in the evenings and weekends.

Making the show in 'O' is a very difficult task. They look for world class divers who have retired from international competition. You have to have proved yourself at an international level with a list of the most difficult optional dives from 3 meter and 10 meter. I know of a great diver who tried out for the show, did not get selected as a diver, but did make a show in Asia in another act unrelated to diving. What he did was attend a circus school in the Seattle area, auditioned in Montreal (Cirque Du Soleil headquarters)and then attended a circus school in Canada. After a couple of years there, he finally got picked to do an act.You should look into a circus school in S.F. (I cannot remember the name).I am sure if you Google it, you will find it. The Cirque Du Soleil recruits out of schools like these.

You should go to their website for info on how they pick new artists: www.cirquedusoleil.com.

Good luck with this adventure.

Jenny - Thanks for the great ratings on my answer. The reason there is nothing closer to S.F. is because once you get north of Stanford, there is no deep water for high diving baords until you get to The City and then there are no teams/coaches.The next closest team north of S.F. is found in Santa Rosa. There is a woman there with a club team at the City's Rec Pool. Her name is Cari Hogan. She was once a show/high diver. She may have some ideas for you on how to be a performing diver. You might also try the coach at U.C. Berkeley, Ben Herdt.He is forming a club team of college students and it may be a bit closer than Stanford for springboard. They go to Stanford for platform. Also try www.mastersdiving.org. On the left side of the homepage, click on e-mail addresses. It is there you will find the Santa Rosa coaches contact info as well as other names.Try contacting Kelly Winterbottom in San Mateo. She dives at Stanford Masters and you may shorten your drive by getting a ride with her to practices. She also has a summer progran in that town but I think it is only 1 meter.Hope all this helps.