Posted: 8/20/03

Home sweet home

Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

They came to the pool for their first home meet of the year, but there was a problem. An official told them they couldnít use their pool.
Last season, the Forest Lake girls diving team was told that the pool they used for diving at Southwest Junior High was too shallow. The pools depth is 10-feet, and the law calls for a 12-foot depth for diving.

ìA few of us knew what was going on because there was this seven-year law thing on the book,î Deb Welch said. ìSo for seven years we were graced that we didnít get our pool taken away from us.î

ìSomebody decided that they were going to start enforcing this rule so pools across the state that were 10-feet and under got their diving taken away,î Welch said.

Welch says the law was originally created with private diving boards in mind. The law did not want people putting diving boards on pools in backyards, or off of docks on a lake. ìAs stupid as that sounds, people do it,î Welch said.

At the time the law was created there was an increase in incidents of accidents off diving boards in residential areas. According to Welch, there has never been a catastrophy in the community of competitive divers.

After being told they could no longer use their pool, the Forest Lake diving team was frantically looking for a pool to use. About a week into the search, Centennial High School gave the team a place to dive. The team then had all their practices and home meets there.

ìWe didnít dive here, we didnít see the (swimming) teams, we didnít practice with them, and it was not cool,î Welch said. ìWe never knew what was going on and who was doing what, and you didnít get to be with your team because you were at a different pool.î

Over the winter, the swimming and diving team booster club presidents got together and investigated the issue. The presidents being Sandy Chaussee and Welchís husband and American Legion baseball coach Mike Welch.

Mike Welch, also a lawyer, called other people who had their pools taken away from them, and called lawmakers to see where the decision to enforce the law came from. He found out that the decision came from the health department so he called them to ask why they were involved. Welch then called the Minnesota State High School League. Welch then got statements from Forest Lake divers and coaches, then went around to other teams to do the same. He sent his findings to the lawmakers who felt they may have gone a little overboard with the initial law.

ìConsidering that they were taking away a diving program basically because maybe your school has a (legal) diving board, but it canít support six or seven other teams coming there,î Deb Welch said. ìYouíre not going to be diving if youíre the only team.î

The legislature looked at all the information and ruled that if you have a diving board at a pool with a 10-foot depth, the board can be used for competitive diving only, and only if there is a qualified diving coach on hand. The new amendment means no gym classes, no swim class, nothing but the diving team with a qualified coach can use the diving board.

The new law covers the state when it comes to residential pools, but it also allows the school diving teams to use their pools.

ìThe girls were very excited this summer,î Welch said of the divers reaction to hearing they could use their pool again.

Welch coaches in the summer when she splits coaching with Bob Andresen from St. Kateís. Andresen told Welsh he had the St. Kateís pool two nights a week, but Welch said her divers were used to five nights a week. While still looking for a pool to use this summer, Welch got a call from a legislator on June 7th telling her the team had their pool back.

ìI wanted to make sure so we called around to everybody and asked and they said ëyes you have your pool back.íî Welch said. ìThe next day we called everybody and we said we have our pool, we have a team and they were all ecstatic. They are very, very happy to have it back.î

Just by word of mouth that they had their pool back, 22 divers signed up for this season. ìThere is definitely a need for the program,î Welch said.

New pools that wish to have a diving board cannot build a pool with a 10-foot depth. All new pools must have the 12-foot depth or deeper that the law originally called for.

ìIn the 10-foot pool we have never had a problem,î Welch said. ìDivers, if they are coached right and dive straight down and then do a ìsummieî you donít come close to the bottom.î
Welch says that divers are more afraid of hitting the board than they are of hitting the bottom of the pool. They overcome it, she says, but every diver has a fear of the board. ìWhen you talk to divers their main concern is not the depth of the pool, their main concern is the board,î Welch said.

When the issue of what certification a ìcertified diving coachî needs, things get a little cloudy. Welch took it to the point that she is U.S. Diving certified that required a 12-hour class where she was in a pool learning, and is now able to coach diving in any pool in the United States.
The guidelines of what a certified coach should be in Minnesota have not been defined, but most Minnesota coaches are U.S. certified or have dove for 10-plus years Welch says.

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