Angelo Dives Right In

Having taken part in gymnastics for 8 ½ years, Cara Angelo decided to take a big step during her sophomore year and push the sport to the side as she tried out for the King Philip swimming and diving team. Watching her older brother Kyle swim for the team, she thought it was something that she could tackle. However, she wasn’t going to follow in her brother’s footsteps, nor the footsteps of any other KP swimmer for that matter – Angelo was going to attempt to dive for the Warriors. The school has never had a diver.
“During my time in gymnastics I kept getting hurt and decided I needed a change. Diving looked easy and I had always wanted to try it,” the KP senior said. “I thought that diving was artistic compared to gymnastics and would have less of an impact on my body.”
Angelo etched her name in the school’s history forever when she became the first diver at King Philip. In the beginning, however, things were a little difficult for her as she ascended the ladder for her dive. As time passed, things began to calm down.
“It was a little nerve racking whenever I had to dive. It became eerily silent with everyone watching me as they had never seen diving before,” Angelo said. “I just tuned everything out and focused on what I needed to do. That first dive was wild and a little crazy, but as time went on I fixed some small problems in my approach and began pointing my toes correctly.”
During the early years, Angelo found herself getting scores of 4.5 on her dives and originally thought the scores were good, especially being a newcomer to the sport. She soon realized, however, that she would need to bring those scores up if she wanted to help the Warriors win. In order to improve, Angelo became a member of the Boston Area Diving Club in Concord and now she’s finding that her scores are much better than 4.5. She also has her mom video tape her dives so that she can correct any flaws.
Last year as a junior, Angelo found that she was much more comfortable in her diving, and with this newfound acceptance the KP diver went out and captured the Hockomock Championship in the event for the first time.
“It was a great feeling although I was very surprised at the results as there are a lot of great divers in the Hockomock League,” she said. “I wasn’t going to let this go to my head. I just got back to working to improve my skills.”
Working on improving her skills is exactly what she did and this past season she repeated as the Hock Diving Champion, while both the boys and girls teams also took home league titles.
“I’ve only known her this year, but you can tell she’s polished and her gymnastic background has helped her diving,” first year Warrior coach Jack Pettine said. “To capture the Hockomock Championship two years in a row, while finishing 7th at the States last year tells you she’s special.”
Last year the KP diver also received an invitation to participate in the AAU Diving Nationals in Orlando, Florida.
“The AAU Nationals took place at the Orlando YMCA and the pool was bigger than any I had ever seen. There were four 1-meter boards, five 3-meter boards, a full tower with 1, 3, 5, 7.5 and 10 meters,” she said. “There were divers from all over the country and although I competed well I did not finish as high as I would have liked.”
With her diving career at King Philip finished, it is now time to look to the future and Angelo will be taking her skills to the next level when she attends Wagner University in Staten Island, New York in the fall.
“Wagner is a Division 1 school that is a phenomenal fit for Cara. She has a really good work ethic and her passion for the sport will help her out,” the KP coach said. “It will be a cool experience for her as at KP she was pretty much the lone diver – at Wagner she’ll be competing with a group.”
Although it will be the beginning of a new chapter in her life, Angelo is looking forward to the college experience and one day hopes to participate in an NCAA Championship Meet.
“Diving at Wagner will definitely be a challenge, but one I’m up for.” she said. “It will be different but with hard work I think that I can do it and hope that one day I can qualify for an NCAA Championship Meet.”
Having only three years of diving and virtually no experience whatsoever the first time she climbed the ladder to the diving board, one can safely say that if Cara Angelo puts her mind to it she’ll be able to accomplish anything she wants.