Bowling Green State Adding Diving to 3rd-Placed MAC Team

While the ranks of collegiate swimming programs are shrinking, there has been a recent push to expand opportunities for collegiate divers, especially on the Division I level, as Bowling Green State’s women’s program on Wednesday was at least the second to announce the addition of a diving program for the 2014-2015 season (the season after this one).

“Head Coach Petra Martin has developed a championship caliber program and deserves the resources necessary for reaching our goal of winning a MAC Championship,” BGSU Director of Athletics Chris Kingston said. “Petra is a results-oriented leader who demands excellence in the classroom as well as the pool. We are pleased to have divers join the talented young ladies who currently swim for Falcon Athletics and look forward to their future achievements at both the MAC and NCAA Championships.”

Bowling Green State finished 3rd at last year’s MAC Championships with 467 points, which was their highest finish since 2004. They finished 17 points ahead of 4th-place Eastern Michigan, but 38 points behind number 2 Ohio University and 154 points behind champions Miami.

Only the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards are officially part of MAC competition, but at last year’s meet, Eastern Michigan picked up 122 points, Ohio picked up 88 points, and Miami picked up 36 points. There’s no guarantees that Bowling Green will immediately score significant points, but this could have a significant impact on the overall placement. By the time BGSU’s diving program is in it’s first year, Ohio projects to be the dominant program (taking over for Eastern Michigan, who will graduate Danielle Hulvey and Kelly Hendricks). Haleigh Bartlett and Morgan Srail will both be seniors in 2014-2015.

The Falcons have a strong history in diving, including Mary Pfeiffer, who was the MAC Diver of the Year from 1985-1988. The team last fielded divers in the 2008-2009 season, and since has been without those points. This re-addition, however, is a worthy reward for a program that continues to excel even without divers. Aside from their lofty MAC finish, head coach Petra Martin was named the 2013 conference Coach of the Year and sent freshman Daniela Carillo to the NCAA Championships: their first qualifier since 1996. She will be the backbone of this team going forward, but will have one more season overlapping with Dutch swimmer Joelle Scheps, who gained international experience on the FINA World Cup series this summer.

Overall, this is a very young team, with just 3 seniors and 4 juniors, as compared to 10 freshmen and 8 sophomores.

The Bowling Green State Student Recreation Center is currently undergoing a renovation that includes BGSU’s two pools. The primary training course, the 50-meter Cooper Pool, includes 1-meter and 3-meter boards.

See the team’s full 2013-2014 schedule below.