WORCESTER, Mass. – In the summer of 2014, Holy Cross swimming and diving coach Wil Aybar was the guest coach at the ZAP Diving Clinic in Sudbury, Mass., a clinic for divers of all ages. Aybar was the expert in trampoline training/spotting and helped train beginning to advanced divers in the proper way of using the trampoline with a harness, along with tumbling/twisting belts. While working, he had the opportunity to meet Olympic diver, Mary Ellen Clark, who was named the new coach of the ZAP diving team.
Clark, a member of the 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic diving team and proud owner of two bronze medals from the '92 Barcelona and '96 Atlanta summer games. Being able to watch Clark coach the divers was an experience that Aybar will never forget. "Learning and watching her coach taught me the art of diving," he said. "She made me very aware of new techniques of coaching for which I can bring to Holy Cross and use with my college divers." He went on to add that the "approach in diving in diving is the first thing you learn, but the last thing you master. Everything in between the approach and the diving entry makes you love the sport even more."
During his club diving team's annual Thanksgiving invitational at Holy Cross, Clark attended the meet and brought her diving team as well. Her presence at the pool caught the eyes of the Holy Cross diving team where they had an opportunity to meet with her. With Clark just a phone call away, Aybar knows he can count on her to give him words of encouragement and pointers in diving training. "I only want the best for my team and any professional pointers will only benefit the Crusader diving nation."
