Mount Vernon’s Anderson flips for diving

MOUNT VERNON - The only thing she's able to hear is the beat of her racing heart.

The crowd is silent around her, anticipating what she'll do next. Taking one last deep breath, she does what the crowd has been waiting for and performs her special front dive.

Althea Anderson, a freshman at Mount Vernon, experiences this at every diving competition.

'It's a lot of pressure, honestly,” said Anderson, who dives for Cedar Rapids Washington. 'But I absolutely love the adrenaline rush. I always feel so accomplished once I'm done.”

Althea has been all around Iowa for competitions and, apparently, it's exhausting. The furthest she's been is Des Moines and for someone who was originally home schooled, that's a big deal. Anderson has been a diver for two months, ever since she moved to Mount Vernon.

'I was looking for some school activities to go out for and I thought diving looked fun,” she said. 'It turns out I was right. Yes, it was definitely worth going out for, but it's a lot of work.”

Althea goes to the pool every day for about two hours and that's a hard thing to do when you're packed with homework all the time.

Even though the competition and practice can be exhausting, there's a lot of great things about diving as well.

'Coach Bear is so nice, and so are my teammates,” Anderson said. 'Everyone is always so supportive. I also love being able to share the word of God with everyone around me. In general, there's a lot more positive things to focus on than negatives.”

Anderson's best score was an 8 out of 10, which she made at Kennedy. The experience had her pumped for her next competition for weeks.

'Overall, it's a great sport,” Anderson said. 'But I'm always terrified of landing on my face. I still haven't landed on my face, and I hope it stays that way. I've heard it doesn't feel too good.”

After her first few competitions, Anderson realized this was something she'd want to stick with for a while. In the end, all Anderson could say was 'you've just got to enjoy these things while they last.”

Anderson will be diving in regional competition Thursday at Linn-Mar.