???For Buffalo diving coach Karla Helder, watching a diver perform resembles a robot operating. Divers strut to the edge of the board in automaton-like steps and after the spring into midair, the divers, as they twirl and flip, have a rigidity about them that seems mechanical.
???Helder is trying to put the personality back into diving.
???Thinking about her experiences while coaching, Helder says that the idea she always spreads is for her divers to be human.
???"Although it is important to study and analyze Chinese divers, who are leaps and bounds ahead of us," Helder said, "I remind my divers that they are not robots. Every diver has his or her own style and individual strengths and weaknesses. It is up to me as a coach to build off those strengths and bring out the best in every diver."
???Helder hopes that she brings out the best in the divers that she has coached. Coming out of Chico State University in California in 1982, Helder was a two-time NCAA National Champion. Her coaching resume includes being a two-time NCAA Division II National Diving Coach of the Year, having 36 All-American Divers, two All-Mid-American Conference divers and an Eastern College Athletic Conference men's championship.
???All of these prestigious achievements almost never happened.
???"Coming out of college, I wanted to be a teacher," Helder said. "[But] I found teaching too constricting. I wanted to be more involved with the people I was training."
???While coaching at the University of California at Davis, fate again intervened.
???"I was coaching at UC Davis when my friend said that I should go to Buffalo," Helder said. "My friend said that if I don't go to Buffalo, then I would get my butt kicked from California all the way to Buffalo. That's a long way."
???While her friend's threats had somewhat of an impact on her decision, it was not the ultimate decision-maker.
???"I had a lot of success in this building," Helder said, referring to Alumni Arena Natatorium. "That made me come here."
???Helder says her inspirations for coaching include everybody that she has met along the way, including fellow coaches, teammates and players she has coached alike. In addition, she believes in maintaining the integrity of diving, and she feels that she must preach safety in order to do this.
???"I hear a lot that parents do not want their children to dive because of the safety risks that are involved with the sport," Helder said. "That's why I focus on safety."
???One of Helder's biggest pet peeves is that divers think that an over-emphasis on gymnastics has a huge impact on performance. For junior diver Michael McDowell, gymnastics were a serious part of a diving routine before coming to Buffalo.
???"Gymnastics worked out the muscles that I use for diving." McDowell said. "But I didn't do floor exercise and that is the one that relates with diving the best."
???Although experience in gymnastics can be an asset when it comes to diving, Helder explained how it could, more often than not, be a hindrance.
???"We have kids come in all the time with their gymnastics habits," Helder said. "We have to totally rework their dives, especially their takeoff routines."
???Helder has certain goals that she hopes she and Buffalo's swimming and diving team can reach together.
???"We have to do better within the MAC, for both men and women," Helder said. "We also have to get divers to the NCAAs and be successful at [the competition]."
???While Helder's awards prove that she is an illustrious diving coach, they are only the icing on the cake. Instead, Helder's primary focus is to help people better themselves, in and out of the water.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
