LEWISBURG, Pa. — The diving well at Bucknell University sprung into action for the PIAA "AAA" Boys Diving Championships Wednesday afternoon. Eleven rounds in the program to determine who stood where on the PIAA podium at the far side of the pool.
Northeastern Senior Stephen Barlett is a three time District III champ. Last year Barlett brought home the bronze medal and this year his goal was to finish at least in third.
Dive after dive, Barlett was locked in a tight battle for second. At times he would ascend to silver position.
His final three dives were strong, all photo worthy of the finals. Dive number eleven was clean and as he made his way up the ladder of the well, he wiped himself off, he looked on and smiled and knew his podium position. Barlett once again captures PIAA bronze missing silver by just six points and 484.15 points total. If he was disappointed, he didn't show it after the dives.
"It’s a good feeling I am happy. Last year I was super shocked that I placed third. This year coming back it was my goal, nothing less than last year, so I am happy with it."
Barlett is off to Cornell with back-to-back third place finishes.
As more fans piled into Kinney Natatorium, they were greeted to about an hour wait for the swimming session due to an untimely, timing system update. That delay though from mission control didn't cancel any celebration for Spring Grove's Daniel Gordon.
Fresh off his record setting District III performance, Gordon, wearing a red white and blue jammer suit came in as the top seed in the "AAA" 50 freestyle. The high school version of the splash and dash has just a few components.
First— it's a quick start, a fast first 25, a turn that gets you under the wave of water at the wall, and finally a sprint to the other end. Simple right? Gordon did exactly that. If Ian Thorpe was known as the "Thorpedo" back in the day for Australia during his Olympic career, Gordon needs a nickname to match Spring Grove's Rocket mascot.
Flash is too cheesy and easy. Apollo could work, but so could "Delta," "Thor," "Titan" or even "Saturn." After all, they are all rockets in NASA's history and the Saturn V is the largest rocket NASA has ever used.
Daniel "Liquid O2" Gordon has a cool ring to it.
Maybe "Booster" is appropriate for this situation. Why? Because a booster rocket provides a short quick burn to maximize thrust.
I'll let Gordon pick his nickname, as he will have plenty of chances to do that in the future. I'll just tell you he went wire to wire in 2022 PIAA Finals, start to finish, like reusable SpaceX rocket.
After a quick touch at the wall, it was a look to his left and smile for his family in the stands.
"When I touched and I looked up and I won, it was a rush of happiness," said Gordon. "It’s a dream come true I have been looking forward to states all year."
It's always good to look towards new frontiers, especially for a literal "Rocket" in the pool.
You can watch the video above to see Gordon's race and Barlett's final dive.