Three Kirkland siblings each won three second-place medals in the Puget Sound Summer Diving League championship meet on August 20. The Kirkland Orcas dive team competed in the championship meet at the Bothell Northshore Pool.
When the meet ended, the Orcas walked away with three medals, including second-place finishes for Addison (14), Devan (12) and Madeline (7) Freebairn.
In overall competition the Orcas team scored a robust 28 team points (with only two participants in the boys' competition) and came in third place overall.
There were 24 kids ages 7-14 on the Orcas dive team this year; 16 were able to compete in the champs meet. This was the fourth year for the Orcas dive team and the first year with dive coach Tom Trapp. Coach Trapp has coached for many years at the national level and headed up this year's dive team.
"It's good to see there are kids who want to learn to dive and to compete," said Trapp. "These kids are tomorrow's high school athletes and they can go a long way in this sport."
New board needed
The dive team collected more than 200 signatures in support of the purchase of a new diving board for the Peter Kirk Pool (the current "relic" doesn't meet diving standards for safety and dive meet use).
"Its tough to go from using our "plank" in practice to using a real diving board at the meets," said Addison Freebairn. "Maybe next year if we get a new diving board we can have our meets here at our home pool and take home a few more medals."
Jeff Price from the Kirkland Parks Department says that the city will pay for half of the expected sum of $12,000 for a new board, stand and supplies.
If you would like to help defray the remaining $6,000, please visit the Northwest Parks Web site www.nwparks.org. They have set up an account for contributions: Just c lick on "donate" and then "Kirkland - Diving Board/Peter Kirk Pool."
Donations are tax deductible and company matching is authorized.
Corey Freebairn is the proud father of his children-divers. For more information or donation information, he can be contacted at mcoreyf@hotmail.com or 891-3111.
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