Last year, diving team captain Natalie Swisher posted career highs in the 1- and 3-meter boards, and qualified for NCAA Diving Zones in both events. Now, the senior is forced to watch as her team tries to make do without her, as she is nursing a nagging shoulder injury that will require surgery once the season is over.
“She had shoulder surgery last year,” diving coach Ted Hautau said. “They went in and did a minimally invasive one, but it wasn’t enough to fix it. So all season long her shoulder has been subluxing – popping out – and she’s out two or three weeks every time that happens.”
Instead of retreating to the weight room or feeling sorry for herself, Swisher has been a regular attendee of practices and competitions.
“It’s definitely been frustrating,” Swisher said. “But my teammates definitely still include me in everything, and I still feel as much as part of the team as I have in past years.”
Hautau said he admires Swisher’s perseverance.
“A lot of people would have thrown the towel in – she can’t even lift her arm,” Hautau said. “She felt a lot of commitment to this program. I’m proud to have her on my team.”
For the first part of the season, Swisher only occasionally participated in practices and meets. She dove competitively in a meet during the team’s Christmas training trip in Florida, but on her last dive, her shoulder went out again.
“Sometimes when I’m squeezing my arms together in a dive, since my shoulder is loose and damaged there’s just too much pressure for it, so it just slips out,” Swisher said. “I’m like, ‘that’s not good!'”
Hautau said Swisher’s injury has “cost them a lot of points this year,” but the team captain has helped out in other meaningful ways.
“Her value has really gone up in intangible ways that cannot be measured by looking at the results of the meet,” Hautau said. “I can’t tell you what it’s like to have someone that’s truly hurt come in and do all of the little things – there’s no guarantee she’ll even be able to get to what she’s training for, and yet she still comes in and gives it her all.”
Teammate Kristin Davies, also a senior, agreed, saying that having Swisher around has been a tremendous source of motivation for her and her teammates.
“It kind of puts things into perspective for everybody else, because every time she gets up on the board there’s a chance her shoulder’s going to dislocate,” Davies said. “I’m sure most other people would be scared to go up there if there was a good chance that they were going to seriously hurt themselves, but to still want to train and get through it – that’s huge.”
Hautau is in his first year of coaching for State after taking over for Mike Finneran, who was fired last December. Although he says it’s unfortunate that Swisher is not able to contribute to her team on the score sheet, Hautau says her injury was a sort of blessing in disguise.
“Natalie has been a big help for me, personally,” Hautau said. “She has sat on the sidelines, not able to practice, and it’s been real beneficial to have her helping me get to know the team. She’s sort of been giving me ‘color commentary’, telling me about her teammate’s personalities, what’s worked for them in the past, so that’s helped my transition and my learning curve in dealing with them. I’ve been fortunate to have her.”
Swisher said her coaches, trainers and teammates have helped her to focus on her biggest goal for this season, which her coach says is still attainable.
“We’re just trying to get her to ACC championships and see if she can make it through preliminaries and dive her last college meet,” Hautau said.
“She’s pretty determined,” Davies said. “I think she’s going to do it. She’s been saying all year that this is her senior year and she wants to make it to ACCs, and I think she’s going to do it.”
Swisher is the first to admit that she is not in perfect form, but she would still love to make one final appearance at the ACC championship for State.
“My diving’s not where I hope it would be, but as long as I make it, I’ll be happy,” Swisher said.
