By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Rowland Lawver practices most of the year with veteran divers like Adam LeCompte and Luke Annand.
Last week at the PASDA Diving Championships at Community Park Pool in Princeton, Lawver had a rare chance to dive against his older teammates with Blue Dolphin Diving and the Pennington resident rose to the occasion.
Lawver, who will be an eighth grader at the Hun School in Princeton beginning in September, finished first in the 14-and-under boys division with a score of 173.10, which put him more than 20 points ahead of Zach Feola of CP, who was second. He was also first in the 18-and-under open division with an impressive score of 400.55, finishing ahead of former Mercer County champion LeCompte of Lawrenceville Swimming Association, who had a score of 394.65. Annand of Ben Franklin finished third and Ryan Morris of Ben Franklin was fourth.
“I am really not used to competing against them because they are older,” said Lawver, who this week is competing in the AAU Nationals in Huntersville, N.C. along with his Blue Dolphin teammates. “I was kind of expecting to come in second or third behind Adam and Luke. When they announced I won, I was surprised. I thought I dove well that day. I knew I would be in the top two or three, but I was not expecting to win.”
Lawrenceville Swimming Association won the team title with 409.5 points. Ben Franklin finished second as a team and Community Park was third, Ravine finished fourth, West Windsor was fifth and Nassau Swim Club finished sixth.
Among the winners in other divisions, Juliet Wei of Nassau finished first in the girls 8-and-under division, while Lizzy Hare of Community Park was first in the girls 14-and-under division.
Lawver, who has been diving competitively for several years, does not often get an opportunity to compete against the older divers. But the open format at PASDA gave him a rare opportunity to compete against older divers. And while he was four to five years younger than those he competed against, Lawver certainly has plenty of experience.
“I have been diving for about five or six years now year round,” Lawver said. “Before that I started in PASDA for three years. I kind of got into it because my dad said if I wanted to do dive team I had to do swim team. So I ended up doing it in the summer. When I moved to Canada, there was a club near our house and that was when I started to get competitive.”
He spends between two and three hours four days a week at practices with Blue Dolphins. He competes in meets throughout a good portion of the year, winding up with this week’s AAU Nationals.
“Pretty much through the winter it is more practice and then spring and summer gets really busy,” Lawver said. “In the middle of the summer we have nationals, which are going on now in North Carolina. Pretty much a majority of our team comes down to compete. It is the big meet to finish the season.”
Lawver was able to head into the AAU Nationals on a high note after a strong performance at the PASDA championships.
RESULTS
6-and-under girls: 1. Sydney Capell (BF), 67.80; 2. Lillian Kottas (RA); 3. Elaina Jersey (LSA); 4. Luisa Bonner (RA); 5. Nava Brenner-Witten (NA); 6. Mia D’Alessandro (HVG)
8-and-under girls: 1. Juliet Wei (NA), 82.80; 2. Wren Williamson (RA); 3. Phoebe Rounds (HVG); 4. Maggie Chrnelich (LSA); 5. Bridget Kohn (WW); 6. Saya Ream (RA).
10-and-under girls: 1. Violet Williamson (RA), 128.90; 2. Gianna Lawrence (FR); 3. Kayla Machinga (HVG); 4. Lexi Ramos (LSA); 5. Anna Hallgren (PB); 6. Molly Lockman (WW).
12-and-under girls: 1. Maddie Laws (LSA), 98.20; 2. Lauren Wagner (WW); 3. Michaela Kwak (RA); 4. Kimi Wei (NA); 5. Piper Dubow (CP); 6. Talia Berman (PB).
12-and-under (open) girls: 1. Gianna Lawrence (FR), 216.25; 2. Violet Williamson (RA), 3. Kayla Machinga (HVG); 4. Maddie Laws (LSA); 5. Maggie Chrnlich (LSA); 6. Kimi Wei (NA).
14-and-under girls: 1. Lizzy Hare (CP), 161.65; 2. Beth Evaldi (LSA); 3. Soorya Baliga (CP); 4. Kerstyn Johnson (LSA); 5. Laura Maher (WW); 6. Brooke Blackwell (PB).
18-and-under girls: 1. Catherine Kenney (WW), 193.25; 2. Gabrielle Cain (CP); 3. Rachel Adlai-Gail (NA); 4. Holly Stanton (CP).
18-and-under (open) girls: 1. Mari Kwak (RA), 340.45; 2. Soorya Baliga (C); 3. Lizzy Hare (CP); 4. Beth Evaldi (LSA); 5. Catherine Kenney (WW); 6. Gabrielle Cain (CP).
6-and-under boys: 1. Kieran Hocquaux (LSA), 68.70; 2. Tim Holland (LSA); 3. Remy Suozzo (CP).
8-and-under boys: 1. Anthony Pawlak (BF), 73.00; 2. Andrew Dauber (LSA), 3. Dillon Lawrence (FR); 4. Harrison Petrick (BF); 5. Joey Buffa (BF); 6. Alex Sun (CP).
10-and-under boys: 1. Jack Blackwell (PB), 91.80; 2. Teddy Prusczinski (CP), 3. Jake Gaudino (LSA); 4. David Holland (LSA); 5. Julian Suozzo (CP); 6. Beckham DiPierro (LSA).
12-and-under boys: 1. Tommy Carpinelli (BF), 93.30; 2. Ryan Edwards (BF); 3. James Sannella (BF); 4. Coll Wight (NA); 5. Colin Noble (NA); 6. Will DePaolo (HVG).
12-and-under (open) boys: 1. Tommy Carpinelli (BF), 158.40; 2. Ryan Edwards (BF); 3. James Sannella (BF); 4. Coll Wight (NA); 5. David Holland; 6. Justin Miller (CP).
14-and-under boys: 1. Roland Lawver (PB), 173.10; 2. Zach Feola (CP); 3. Lorne Wight (NA); 4. Mathew Laws (LSA); 5. Amani Larkin (WW); 6. Shawn Kohn (WW).
18-and-under boys: 1. Adam LeCompte (LSA), 219.35; 2. Luke Annand (BF); 3. Ryan Morris (BF); 4. Andrew Ashton (RA); 5. Zeke D’Ascoli (BF); 6. Sam Golbin (NA).
18-and-under (open) boys: Roland Lawver (PB), 400.55; 2. Adam LeCompte (LSA); 3. Luke Annand (BF); 4. Ryan Morris (BF); 5. Andrew Ashton (RA); 6. Jared Featherston (BF).
Team Scores: 1. Lawrenceville Swimming Association, 409.5; 2. Ben Franklin, 365; 3. Community Park, 359; 4. Ravine, 256; 5. West Windsor, 219.5; 6. Nassau, 164; 7. Penn Brook, 138; 8. Hopewell Valley Golf, 102; 9. Flemington-Raritan, 85.
