A Fast Learner Dives In

Under the collegiate rules for scoring swim meets, the first three finishers receive five, three, and one point respectively. But if one team takes all three places, the other team, if it has an entry in the event, still receives the third place point. Thus scoring is 8-1 for the event; never 9-0.

Six weeks ago, Sue Abkowitz was getting that third place point in the diving events either because there were only three divers, or because of this no shut-out rule. But things have started to change.

Sue, an 18-year-old freshman who specializes in the 50-yard butterfly, only recently entered the world of competition on the one and three-meter spring boards. IN the water, she is, as Radcliffe assistant swim coach Paula Newman described her, "a springer." But from the diving board, she's a determined competitor who has worked hard to learn the tools of the trade.

Sue came to Harvard in the fall from Lexington High School as an experienced varsity performer in gymnastics, swimming and lacrosse; but she had never done any competitive diving. "The closest I got to diving was bumming around on the board," she said yesterday.

"I used to watch divers in high school," she said, "and I would think about how I'd really like to do that, but no one ever encouraged me." Sue asked diving Coach John Walker at the start of the season about becoming a diver. But he told her then that he already had experienced divers and that she would have trouble making the team; so Sue just worked on her butterfly.

Well, the Radcliffe divers rapidly disappeared due to injury and academic problems; so on December 2, two meets into the season, Walker started teaching Sue the basics of competitive diving.

Walker said yesterday that Sue's ability to learn the dives was "incredible." He said, "In one day, she learned nine of the 11 dives necessary to compete from the one-meter board. Another day she learned eight of the ten dives necessary to compete from the three-meter board. I've never known anyone who could pick up the skills that quickly."

Walker also said that Sue has practiced "maybe ten times this season" because she divides her time between swimming and diving practices.

"I wouldn't even speculate on what she could do with a consistent practice schedule," he added.

With only two months experience, Sue has already defeated divers from Tufts, Dartmouth and Wellesley. She has learned all 21 different dives necessary to compete, and has overcome the fear of hitting the board on reverse and inward dives, a fear which she said originally hampered her performance.

It seems incredible that in such a short time she could have learned enough to win the one-meter diving event against Dartmouth. She credits much of her success to her gymnastics background which she said helped her "body control, leg and toe position, and body extension."

Another side of the story, though, is what she called the "encouragement from her teammates." She said, "They could've easily laughed at me when I was starting out, but they applauded and encouraged me," she added.

However, far greater than any of this is the courage involved in her whole developmental process. Her team was without a diver, a situation which would have crippled them for the season. But Sue stepped in, learned the dives, and started scoring points and beating more experienced opponents. Her performance has been no less than incredible.