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Warrior has come a long way in only one year

By JOHN SCHWARB

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 11, 2000

Most sophomores harbor reasonable expectations of improvement after picking up sports for the first time as freshmen.

But if Lauren Permuy's learning curve continues on its current track, she might have dives named after her by the time she is in college.

Exaggeration?

Check out the evidence.

Exhibit A: The Osceola freshman diver barely qualifies for PCAC championships, hitting required dives one week prior to competition.

Exhibit B: Permuy, now a sophomore, participates in last month's PCAC championships, shattering the meet record. Her score of 443.05 is not only 80 points better than the second-place girls finisher, but just 5.45 points short of the 9-year-old boys record.

In summary, let's just say Permuy is exceeding all expectations.

"I've been surprised," said Permuy, who is unbeaten in district meets. "I knew I had practiced a lot. I put in a lot of hard work, but this is a lot more than I expected."

After eight years of gymnastics, Permuy started diving in August 1999 for coach Ernie Whalen and Osceola.

She said the transition between the two sports took a while, but once she caught the bounce of the board, the sport started to come into form.

Add in a dash of Whalen's 30 years of knowledge, and this season's payoffs have been big.

"She never misses," Whalen said.

"Once she learns a dive, she's consistent. That's all it is in diving. If you're consistent, you've got a shot to win every meet you're in."

At PCAC, she was clearly on, hitting all of her 11 dives and earning her first 9 and 9.5 scores.

"And those were from the other coaches," Whalen said. "They said they couldn't find anything wrong."

Last weekend, Permuy took on 55 of the best divers in the state at the National Swimming Pool Invitational in Orlando, and she more than held her own against a field of participants from all classifications.

Permuy held steady in sixth place for most of the meet, only to slip to ninth after trying two dives she had not yet perfected.

But staying consistent to her character, Permuy called the trip a success and enjoyed the chance to observe stronger, older competitors.

"It helps a lot. You pick up things," she said. "It inspires you to see people who are really good. You're like, "Hey, maybe I can do that."'

In her immediate future, Permuy has a very good chance to make an impact at the district and state meets.

Next month's Class A, District 6 meet at her home pool in Largo is setting up as a clash of the titans as Permuy will face All-Americans Rachel Korth of St. Petersburg Catholic and Kristen Rayhack of Berkeley Prep. The state meet the following week could be Permuy's playground as an improvement on her 24th-place finish of last year appears a lock and a top-5 finish a distinct possibility.

Not bad for someone who just wanted to improve like any other sophomore.

PREP DIVING AT A GLANCE

THE DIVES: Participants perform from a 1-meter high springboard, executing dives in five different categories -- forward, back, inward, reverse and twisting. Forward, back and twisting dives are just like they sound while inward dives involve standing backward on the board and entering the water facing away from the board. Reverse dives involve walking forward then entering the water facing the board. Dives have varying degrees of difficulty and are assigned a number between 1.0 and 3.5.

THE MEETS: At dual meets, divers perform six dives -- two from a required category (determined before the competition) and one from each of the four remaining categories. At most larger meets and district/state competition, 11 dives are performed -- three from one category and two from the other four. A minimum combined degree of difficulty is required for entry in the larger meets.

THE SCORING: Judges assign scores to each dive, from 0-10. Half-points may be assigned. At dual meets, three coaches serve as judges, but if a third coach is not present, then the average of two judges' scores is listed as the third score. The sum of the three scores from each dive is multiplied by the dive's degree of difficulty for a single dive score. And at the end of the competition, the six scores are added to determine a competitor's total score. At larger meets, five to seven judges may be used, with high and low scores thrown out for each dive.

THE SKINNY: Fans of Olympic diving will notice many similarities to prep diving in terms of scoring and degrees of difficulty, though 3-meter springboards and platforms are not used in Florida High School Activities Association-sanctioned competition. In dual meets, the better divers will have total scores higher than 200 points while in 11-dive competitions, the top competitors could score more than 400 points.

INTRODUCING: LAUREN PERMUY

YEAR: Sophomore.

FAVORITE FOOD: Pizza.

FAVORITE DIVES: Reverses.

LAST BOOK READ: The Great Gatsby.

BETWEEN DIVES AT MEETS I'LL: Do homework or stretch or keep my body movingso I don't get stiff.

OTHER FAVORITE SPORTS: Golf, gymnastics, volleyball.

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