This year the North Atlanta dive team broke North Atlanta records and made APS history. The 2022-2023 season was the first time in APS history that four divers qualified for the state meet. In addition, diver Olivia Granot beat her own record, again making history with the highest women’s APS state score, a 192.5. Granot also scored 6th place in region 6A, all while in a cast.

When she was seven, Junior Diver Olivia Granot began diving in a summer league at Brookwood Hills Pool. In 8th grade, she continued her path, joining the North Atlanta dive team. After several summers as a Bullfrog and two seasons as a diving Dub, she decided it was time to take things more seriously. This year, Granot began diving at Atlanta Dive Association (ADA). Inopportunely, during an ADA practice a week before the state championship, Granot hit her hand on the board, breaking and fracturing several fingers. After a visit to the doctors, Granot was cast up and scheduled for surgery; still, she did not want to miss the opportunity to compete at state. Her persistence prevailed, and Granot prepared to complete a dive list with foot-first entries only. Despite the setbacks, Granot did not let this injury shake up her mentality or deter her from excelling in competition. “I couldn’t imagine missing out given how much practice and work I put in this year,” said Granot. 

On January 31st, at 11am, divers Olivia Granot, Hope Hallett, Anna Samuelson, and Sara Roman arrived at the Westminster Schools, prepared for a long day of diving at the state level. As they walked into the aquatic center, they were met with hundreds of divers awaiting the same tedious day of diving. The challenge began when 60+ divers got 30 minutes to warm up their six dives with only three boards, and continued when they realized who their competition was. Division 6-7A is not a group of easy competitors, but rather an array of exceptional divers, including some D1 commits. “We didn’t think we would do very well going into it,” said Samuelson. “But, we proved ourselves wrong.” 

The dive team has always been a group of mostly novice divers. The team’s ultimate goal through past seasons was one day qualifying for state. This group of juniors never expected that they would be the ones making history. It was an impressive feat for the team despite limited practice time, coaching, practice space, and Granot’s broken fingers. Nonetheless, this group of incredible diving Dubs made history.