It is safe to say that Wheaton’s Charlie Maier ’14 has made quite a splash for the Lyons Diving team this season.
The sophomore student-athlete was named the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Diver of the Week for Jan. 23. He received the prize after winning both the one-meter and three-meter dive events against Babson College on Jan. 23 with scores of 262.73 and 267.83, respectively.
This is not the first time that Maier has received the award. The sophomore was also named NEWMAC Diver of the Week for the week of Jan. 17, 2011.
Of course, this is merely another accomplishment among many that Maier has achieved since he started diving at Wheaton College.
Currently, Maier holds the Wheaton College records in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dive events. In addition, last year Maier earned the honor of achieving a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) provisional qualifying time in the 1-meter platform event, the first Wheaton College diver ever to do so.
Charlie Maier was recruited to dive at Wheaton College during his senior year of high school at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional in Sudbury, Mass.
“We recruited Charlie during his senior year in high school and were excited about the prospect of getting an athlete with that amount of ability before college,” said Wheaton College Diving Coach Katy Shoemaker. “Not only is Charlie passionate about diving, he is never afraid to try new dives.
“When he has the motivation to attempt to a new trick, there is nothing that stands in his way.”
Shoemaker was a college athlete herself, diving at Trinity College. There, she got to work with coaches and athletes in the NEWMAC conference that Wheaton College currently competes in.
Through interactions with her coaches and fellow athletes, she learned that each athlete must be coached in a unique way. Shoemaker has brought this philosophy to Wheaton College and it has been very successful.
Since the NEWMAC Diver of the Week was created, at least one diver per season from Wheaton College has received the award. Judging by this impressive feat, Wheaton Diving has given Lyons fans many reasons to be proud.