Eisenhower senior diver breaks 34-year-old school record

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — Utica Eisenhower senior Mario D’Annunzio came into the season with one thing on his mind — a 34-year-old school record on the 11-dive that has stood the test of time.

On Feb. 25 at the Macomb Area Conference-Blue Divisional Championship at Romeo High School, D’Annunzio’s score of 426.80 broke that very record, which was set in 1989.

What was D’Annunzio’s reaction to breaking the record? What any swimmer would do when making history.

“I slapped the water a couple times as any swimmer would, and I felt happy and content because it’s something that I’ve worked for all year,” D’Annunzio said.

D’Annunzio, who went into the finals in first after preliminaries, earned first place at the MAC-Blue meet in the 11-dive.

The 11-dive consists of five voluntary dives and six optional dives from the five diving groups that include forward, back, reverse, inward and twisting. The voluntary dives are one from each diving group each at the diver’s choice, while the optional dives are six different dives with all five groups represented, and one group represented twice.

D’Annunzio followed up his MAC-Blue performance with a fifth place finish at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Region 2 meet at Oxford High School, qualifying for the MHSAA Division 1 State Finals at Calvin University March 10-11.

Eisenhower dive coach Jennifer Williams said D’Annunzio’s success comes from his persistence.

“He practices all the time,” Williams said. “He wants to be perfect, so everything is down to a science. He goes up there, and he knows what he needs to do.”

D’Annunzio will look to cap off his senior year with a strong state finals finish.

Already securing one of his goals, D’Annunzio will look to accomplish one more before he graduates.

“His one goal was to make it to the finals, because there’s prelims and the finals, and at least be in the top 12,” Williams said.