The diving team is widely unknown to students at Seminole. Many have seen the slides on Noles Daily News, calling out to anyone interested in diving with or without prior experience, but few have shown interest since. Although diving may not get much recognition now, Coach Brittany Sanders and her divers are working hard to change this fact.

The team is unorthodox in composition. Of the seven students on the diving team, there are only two who call Seminole their alma mater, Morgan Thorla and Mitchell Bornstein. The diving team spans across Seminole, Oviedo, and Lake Mary. Although each athlete practices together, they all dive for their respective schools.

Thorla says, “Being on a team with people from other schools is a lot of fun! It allows you to connect with different people that you normally don’t see around school.”

 The team was not originally split between multiple schools. Four years ago, the Oviedo divers started using Seminole’s aquatic facilities to practice, but eventually Sanders and the Oviedo coach came to combine forces. This persisted until last year.

Sanders recounts, “I wasn’t planning to coach at all. The parents of the two Oviedo divers called me and asked if I would coach their boys. Once they begged me in hopes of getting their son to the state meet. . . I [then] agreed to work with any SHS divers as well.”

Although many on the team are inexperienced, it has a bright future. Standouts Jacob Bushey and Jackson Wydra, who both hail from Oviedo, qualified and placed in the final round at the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) State Competition last year. The new divers have also shown exceptional promise.

Sanders says, “They are brand new to diving and have shown true mastery, determination, and grit. Diving is extremely difficult. There isn’t any way to learn a dive safely on the ground, [so] divers just have to wing it and know that they might smack the water! It takes a lot of courage.”

Along with their success, the divers have ubiquitously lauded the program. Newcomer junior from Lake Mary High School Danielle Roque expresses, “My favorite part about being on the diving team is learning new things and making new friends. We get along great and have so much fun!”