The Manitou Girls High School Swim Team is trying hard to get a diving board back at the Manitou Pool.  There was once a board at the pool, but it had to be taken down.

“The diving board reflected the rest of the facility, which was in really poor shape and dangerous, so I made the call to pull it out,” said the Manitou Girls head swim coach and pool manager, Roy Chaney.

Since the divers can not practice at the Manitou Pool, they have to make a long haul to Cheyenne Mountain High School, and begin after Cheyenne divers had finished, around 8:30pm.

“Some girls didn’t go out for the team because of the inconvenience, and they couldn’t get transportation, especially if they were freshmen,” said Chaney.

Divers are an extremely important part of a team, and it showed at the Independent League Championships in February.

“We won by eleven points; they got fifteen or sixteen. Without them we would have lost,” said Chaney regarding the divers’ efforts at Leagues. “For the future success of the team, we not only need to have a strong swim team, but a strong diving component as well.”

The team is really excited to get the ball rolling in fact, the manager of Subway agreed to assist the team in raising money. The fund raiser is set to be within the next couple of months.

There is also a dive-a-thon March 16, at Cheyenne Mountain High School to try to collect more money. The National Swimming Pool Foundation is spreading the word to get people to pledge for the dive-a-thon.

The cost of the board, could be anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 depending on installment issues that may arise.

In the future, Chaney thinks that he and head diving coach Andrea Hassler could get the team to place in the top ten or even top five at state, and that the diving board will be a large contributing factor to their success.

By Sam White