Friendly rivals will meet in county
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Michael Casarona and Kieran Jones are rivals, or at least they are supposed to be.
The two are on opposite sides of the West Windsor-Plainsboro North vs. WW-P South matchup, yet the two are in a unique position.
They very well may be the only competitors in the boys’ division of the Mercer County Diving Championships on Wednesday at WW-P South, and they are plenty familiar with each other’s strengths after practicing together daily.
”It’s funny,” Jones said. “We’re supposed to be like a rivalry, but we’re one team.”
Casarona will represent WW-P South and Jones will represent WW-P North at counties. They train under the direction of Lee Swanson, who coaches both the schools in the district.
”They go back and forth,” said the second-year coach. “Sometimes one will beat the other. It’s always by a point. It’s very good. It kind of pushes each other to learn new dives and improve. There’s some internal fighting. They don’t voice it. It’s a healthy rivalry.”
Said Casarona: “We’re really good friends. We’re always happy with each other. It’s usually one point to five points between our scores. It’s friendly competition. We encourage each other on dives, but we still have that competitive factor.”
The Pirates freshman finished fourth at the highly competitive Jim Roach 11-Dive Invitational last Wednesday. He was a half-point ahead of Jones, the North sophomore who finished fifth overall.
”I got to see some competition, which was good,” Casarona said. “And there’s room to improve. I was pretty happy with how I finished.”
Just five days earlier at the North Brunswick Invitational, it was Jones who was second overall and Casarona was third by five points.
”It’s always up in the air,” Jones said. “Me and Michael are so close. He has a really great lineup with his dives. I don’t have that yet. That’s what he has me on. I need to work on that. It’s up to the judges too. It’s whatever they’re going to give you.”
Combined with the girls’ competitors, Casarona helped WW-P South win the North Brunswick meet as a team. Mallory Swanson was the Pirates’ top female. Montgomery High School’s Bridget O’Brien won the girls’ division.
”It felt great. Everyone was excited,” Lee Swanson said. “We’ve got a large team. That always helps. Everyone’s points count. Some of our divers placed high. It turned out we got the win.
”We didn’t win last year. North Brunswick won. We got it back. I think we had it the year before that. We’re excited to win again. It’s a big meet. They have some good divers that go.”
In Casarona and Jones, Swanson has two of the most promising young divers in the state. Swanson predicts both could be college divers.
”Kieran has great twisting dives,” she said. “He twists the fastest I’ve ever seen. That’s his strong point. Michael is more graceful and he has the entries that really score high.”
They took different paths to being practice partners. Casarona was diving at a young age. By 7, he was perfecting those entries into the pool.
”I’ve been diving many places for a long time,” Casarona said. “I’ve been back and forth with things like golf, but diving has been my biggest success so far. It’s been good.
”I had learned a lot of dives when I was really young,” he added. “I spent a lot of time perfecting them. Now I’m learning new set of dives. It’s been rewarding to see how far I’ve come this year. I’ve learned a lot of new dives.”
Being so strong all-around helped him early in the season achieve a score to qualify for the state tournament.
”I’ve been diving a long time,” Casarona said. “I know who’s going to be at states. A lot of people I’ve been competing against will be from my club. We’re all a bunch of friends. When we go to different meets all over the place, I see my friends one at a time.”
He will represent South along with four girls — Danielle Erickson, Alexandra Olgin, Mallory Swanson and Helene Strange.
”I think they’re looking good,” Lee Swanson said. “We have four state qualifiers for the girls. That’s the biggest number I’ve seen for us so far. Now we have to work on getting the 11 dives so we can compete at states.”
The Jim Roach meet was the first that offered the chance to compete in an 11-dive meet like the state format. Jones will represent North at the states, even though he missed the first month of the season.
”I dove my freshman year,” Jones said. “I used to live in Pennsylvania. The coaching wasn’t what I expected (in Pa.) so I didn’t want to continue it. I didn’t know with the facility here in West Windsor, what it would be like so I wanted to try wrestling. I realize I have the talent for diving and I should practice it so I switched.”
Added Swanson: “He emailed me and said I want to dive. We took him on and I’m glad we did.”
Like many polished divers, Jones comes with a strong gymnastics background. It has helped him make up ground on other divers though he only began in the sport last year. And he has only been with the WW-P teams for a month.
”I’m so used to doing the moves,” he said. “Gymnastics has helped me so much. The dives I do, I’ve done on the floor before.
”I’m thrilled so far. I’m getting a lot better. I love the coaching here. I used to have a phobia of reverse dives. Here is the first coach who ever got me to do it.”
With two years left in Jones’ high school career, and three for Casarona, Swanson only sees the two moving up in the state through the years. When she dove for the Pirates, she competed with the last accomplished male diver from WW-P, Andrew Wolf, who went on to dive at Cornell University.
”He was good,” Swanson said. “He did well. I think Kieran and Michael could both surpass him. I think they both have the potential to surpass that level.
”I think all they need to work on is being consistent and making sure they do the dive well every time so when we get to the meet, they can nail it there. That comes with time and practice.”
Both also are active in other sports. Casarona played freshman football and also golfs. Jones will try out for North’s lacrosse or track and field teams as a pole vaulter. For now, they are pushing each other to higher diving scores, as training partners and competitors at meets.
”It’s great,” Casarona said. “Before, it was me and a bunch of girls on the team. There’s nothing like having another guy to hang out with.”
The programs at WW-P would like others to team up with Casarona and Jones.
”I’m hoping more boys will go if they see there are male divers are out there,” Swanson said.
Or it could hurt the program’s chances. A strong duo like Michael Casarona and Kieran Jones might actually intimidate others from joining the friendly rivals.