Try jumping more than 10 feet into the air while spinning and contorting your body into different directions. At the same time, also have the mental discipline to perfect your form mid-air.

Oh, and do all of this in less than three seconds.

For the divers on the men’s and women’s Grand Valley State University swimming and diving teams, it’s like taking a walk through the park. The team has already managed to qualify five divers for the NCAA National Championships: seniors Karen Verbrugge and Rachel Strom, sophomores Katie Vulpetti and Jennifer Root and freshman Paul Swedenborg.

For Verbrugge, her success began at Forest Hills Central High School, where she was a state champion and Diver of the Year. That success has followed her to GVSU as well, where she has made nationals every year of her career.

She is also the reigning three-time individual GLIAC champion in the one-meter dive, and has been runner-up in nationals the past two years in the same event.

In a way, Verbrugge has always been destined to attend GVSU. It runs in her blood.

“Both of my parents went to GVSU, and I grew up going to GVSU football games,” Verbrugge said. “So I grew up wanting to go to GVSU, and it worked out that I could dive there and that GVSU had the program I wanted.”

Verbrugge credits her coaches for the success she’s been able to have. GVSU diving coach Micah Clack coached Verbrugge when she was a freshman and sophomore in high school.

“The coaches are really helpful,” she said. “They know how to motivate me and they know what’s best for us.”

Katie Vulpetti is only a sophomore, but she has already made a positive impact on the program. Vulpetti qualified for nationals last year as a freshman, and has already qualified this year as well.

She hopes to use last year’s experience in nationals to help her out the second time around this year.

“Last year was just a learning year in general,” she said. “Learning how to handle school and diving, and knowing the difference between a regular dual meet and a really big competition such as nationals is helpful. It’s really overwhelming, but in a good way and I now know what to expect.”

For Verburgge, it’s all about maintaining discipline while in the air to have a successful dive.

“Having clean lines in the air while going into the water is important,” she said. “You have to focus on making it look good throughout the whole dive.”

Verbrugge and Vulpetti both share a common sport from their past that has helped them become so successful in diving: gymnastics.

Verbrugge practiced gymnastics for 15 years, and for Vulpetti, gymnastics provided an outlet to diving.

“I used to be a gymnast,” Vulpetti said. “My high school didn’t have a gymnastics team, so I turned to diving my freshman year of high school. It’s common in diving to see ex-gymnasts turn to diving because it helps with being able to flip and twist, which is a common thing to do in both sports.”

Head coach Andy Boyce said he is excited to see what kind of scores his divers can post at nationals.

“Every year Karen’s been right there,” he said. “Also with our diving by Katie, Rachel Jenny, Paul, we feel like we got a great group of divers heading into national championships.”

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