WHHS diving took up most of the podium at the Eastern Cincinnati Conference swimming and diving championship on Jan. 22, with SENIOR Bela Noble winning, and Elleka Boeres, ‘23, finishing as the runner up. Noble, who has been the conference champion the past two seasons, was named ECC Diver of the Year.

“I hoped to win, I won last year so I was really hoping to win again this year,” Noble said.

Both Noble and Boeres did not start diving until eighth grade, but they quickly became some of the city’s best divers. They were previously gymnasts, and that similar training base to diving helps with the tricks the divers perform.

“My mom was a diver and I was a gymnast so it was a fun thing to do at the pool and then I thought it would be a fun thing to do for school,” Noble said.

“I started diving for my summer club because I was a gymnast and I had injured my back pretty badly,” Boeres said.

At the conference championship meet, all divers had to perform six different dives off a one meter board. Noble and Boeres completed a variety of different dives, including a reverse, front two and a half, and reverse one and a half.

The scores of all six dives were added up and Noble and Boeres finished with the two highest scores. The points earned from the one-two finish was a huge factor in the Lady Eagles bringing home the first girls swimming and diving conference championship in school history.

Despite the impressive results at the ECC meet, the divers are far from done with their season. Next up is the road to the state championship.

All divers will compete at the sectional meet on Feb. 12 with the top 32 moving on to districts. From there the best seven divers at Districts move on to the State Swimming and Diving championship in Canton Ohio. Noble has qualified for states in the previous season, and is looking forward to heading back to Canton later this month.

“I hope I make states and place in the top five. I am excited to finish this season out,” Noble said.

However, once the high school season is done, Noble will not be finished with her diving career. She has committed to the University of Akron for diving.

“I visited and met all the girls on the team and it really seemed like a great community and it made me excited to go there,” Noble said in response to being asked why choosing the University of Akron.

Boeres is only a junior but has begun the recruiting process so she can eventually dive in college.

“I do plan on diving in college. Academics are a first for me so I am looking at schools like the University of Chicago or University of California San Diego,” Boeres said.

To be able to dive in college, both girls have had to put in countless hours of work. Diving takes both a physical and mental toll on athletes. Many of the advanced dives that Boeres and Noble perform can be very dangerous. Boeres was injured during a dive last season and was out for two months.

“Last year I was doing my favorite dive [a reverse one and a half] at practice. I went for it and I knew I was gonna hit the board with my feet so I tried to flip it over and I ended up hitting my head,” Boeres said. “ I’ve never hit the board before and I ended up with 19 exterior stitches and five interior stitches.”

Although there can be risks, Boeres and Noble love diving and have greatly enjoyed this season.

“I’ve met a lot of new friends this season and it has been really fun,” Boeres said.