By Christopher Tremblay

Under the guidance of co-coaches Kate Curtin and Jen Dwyer, the Norwood swim and dive team has two girls that have qualified to continue taking part in their aquatic events following the regular season. Sophomore Colleen Sisk will take part in the 1-meter diving and junior Ana Santana Alcantara will swim the 100 backstroke in both the South Division Section and the Division 2 State Tournament.

 

Sisk joined the team last winter as a freshman very new to the sport of diving, and never having taken part in the event prior to landing on the Mustangs squad. Despite the fact that Sisk had never attempted a competitive dive, the then freshman was very anxious about giving the sport a try, and according to her coaches, she progressed considerably last winter.

In order to qualify for the Sectionals, a diver needs to score at least 185 points on two occasions, and 195 points twice to gain access into the State Tournament. A diver also must have 11 qualifying dives with a 5 (out of 10) or better. 

 

Knowing that she was very close to those marks last year in her inaugural diving season, Sisk spent a lot of time training with her club team out of Duxbury. The work obviously helped as the sophomore qualified not only for the Sectionals but the States as well in the first three meets of the season. 

“That’s about as fast as you possibly can do it,” Curtin said. “I was super impressed about her from the get-go, but she has totally dominated and continued to improve. She is one that we can depend on for points each meet as she is consistently in the top of her event. She is also our only official diver (to be classified as an official diver one must perform six dives safely in different categories).”

Sisk knew right away she was interested in diving, but never thought of herself as swimmer. However, the Norwood coaching staff has used the sophomore in some sprint free-style events to help the team in events.

“She has a great team-first attitude and will do what it takes for the team,” Dwyer said. “She is a role model for the team and we are looking for her to continually perform at her best while improving her scores.”

Sisk’s best dive to date is a 206.18 and will compete against 18 other girls in the South Sectionals in the diving event.

“As a sophomore and being the first person on the team to qualify gives her the opportunity to participate in her first tournament,” Dwyer said. “I’m very excited to see what she does, especially only being a sophomore having another two years to improve upon her skill. She will also get a feeling for what the post-season is like and how to compete on this level.”

Santana Alcantara enjoys swimming events and thrives on improving  her craft. The junior swimmer is new to Norwood after moving to town in August from Brazil where she was a competitive swimmer. 

“When Ana first came to us we really didn’t know much about her and her swimming background, but we were soon impressed,” Curtin said. “She has been really excited about swimming for us right from the start and was eager to get started with the serious competitions. Her sights were set high as she was looking to qualify for the Sectionals and the States.”

Alcantara excels in the 2 IM, 100 fly, and the 100 backstroke, and has also helped the team out in the 200-medley relay, and both the 200 and 400 free-style relays. In the relays, the junior will swim the backstroke in the 200 medley and being one of the better sprinters on the squad, will swim a later leg in the free-style relays.

In able to qualify for the Sectionals, one needs to achieve a 107.44 or less and a 105.98 for the States; Alcantara was closing in on these qualifications in a mid-January tournament. 

“During the Ashland meet on January 13, she swam a 105.63 in the backstroke, cutting a good 3-4 seconds off her previous time,” Dwyer said. “This was very impressive as we were just getting back from winter break and it takes a lot of hard work to do this. It was a thrill for her qualifying for both the Sectionals and the States with that swim; the entire team was behind her as she breezed through the water.”

The Norwood coaches noted that while Alcantara was unaware of her time while in the pool, her teammates knew that something special was happening and they continued to cheer her on. It wasn’t until she was told about the qualifying time that the juniors’ eyes lit up.

“She was just focused during this meet and looking for that Sectional qualifying tim;, we hadn’t seen her get close to the State time prior to this meet,” Dwyer said. “To get them both on the same day was a very special moment that we will not forget. She is a very versatile swimmer in the sprinting events, and then for her take part in a relay to help the team is a critical component to her dynamic personality.”

In the South Sectionals, Alcantara will compete against 19 competitors, where she is ranked 12 in the group.  Being that she’ll be swimming against other talented swimmers in that 104-106 range should push her. Anything can happen when you are going up against athletes with similar times and Alcantara should be able to use that to her advantage.  

At the MIAA South Sectionals, Sisk finished 17th in the 1 meter diving, while her teammate Alcantara took 12th place in the  100 backstroke with a time of 1:05.92.