Diving for gold Bruce Kimball They call him the Comeback Kid. But something like "Kid Consistency" may be an even more appropriate label for Bruce Kimball Except for that agonizing seven- month recuperation period in 1981-82 that earned him his colorful nickname, Kimball has been a model of steady diving. A quick look at Kimball's record reveals a sea of firsts and seconds, par- ticularly in his speciality, the 10-meter platform. CBS commentator Jack Whitaker described Kimball best-"Consistent as a jewel." Though the injuries Kimball suffered in that tragic auto accident prevent him (at least temporarily) from executing the more difficult dives, his near- perfect, splashless dives consistently earn him more raw style points than his celebrated rival, Greg Louganis. But Louganis has the edge because style points are multiplied by the degree of difficulty to determine total score in diving. "The way it is," said Dick Kimball, Bruce's coach and father, "Bruce has to outdive Greg by 50 points in raw score." So for the time being, Kimball fights the uphill struggle to best his chief foe solely on style points. But once in Los Angeles, Kimball insists the rivals become a team-US against the world. "It's not gonna be a rivalry," Kim- ball said of the Olympics, shortly after the diving trials this year. "We're good for each other." -PAUL HELGREN Ron Merriott Between his junior and senior years of high school Ron Merriott attended a summer camp that would change his sport, and ultimately his life. Already a champion in the now- obscure sport of trampoline, Merriott journeyed to Dick Kimball's diving camp in Brandon, Fla. Just a few short weeks and Merriott was hooked on a new sport. "KIMBALL'S CAMP is what did it for me," Merriott once said. "After that I knew I wanted to be a diver and come to Michigan because Kimball was the coach I wanted to trainunder." The Kimball magic had charmed another outstanding athlete into the fold of divers that has included three Olympic gold medal winners. Though Merriott was world champion on the trampoline he forsook the springs for the springboard. During his senior year of high school he began competing in his new-found endeavor. By his senior year at Michigan in 1982 he was the NCAA's best in the three-meter springboard. Today he is an Olympian in that event, among Americans second only to the diving demi-god, Greg Louganis. Merriott, 24, has indeed risen quickly in a sport dominated by life- long diving wunderkinds like Louganis, who won a silver medal at the '76 Olympics in Montreal at the tender age of 16. Louganis is, of course, the over- whelming favorite to cop the gold in this summer's classic. But Merriott wil be there, giving it his best shot. And if Louganis should falter, perhaps a former trampoline champion will slip into the Olympic spotlight. - PAUL HELGREN Kimball at a glance NAME:Bruce Kimball. BORN: June 11, 1963 (AnnArbor). NUMBERS: 5'8", 135 pounds. SCHOOL: Junior, University of Michigan. OLYMPIC EVENT: 10-meter platform, August 11-12. HIGHLIGHTS: 1976-Finished 14th in the 10-meter platform Olympic trials at the age 01 13. 198-High school All-American as a freshman; finished seventh in the 10-meter at the World Championship Trials. 1979-Took first in the one- and three-meter springboard and in the 10- meter platform at the Canadian Winter Nationals; claimed second at the National Sports Festival and third at the Pan American Trials in the 10- 180-Finished fifth and 10th in the 10-meter and three-meter, respec- tively, at the Olympic Trials; captured first of six U.S.A. Senior Nationals titles in the 10-meter; made U.S. Diving All-American for first of five times.- 181-Made High School All-American for fourth and final time; swept all three events at the World Age Group Meet (ages 15-17); kept a perfect record in the 10-meter at the U.S.A. Age Group Nationals with his seventh title in seven tries. 1982-Finished second in the 10-meter at the National Sports Festival. 1983-NCAA All-American; named "Michigan Athlete of the Year" by the Meadowhooh Country Cub; finished second at the Pan-American Games and fistatmthe Los Angeles Initational in the 10-melee. 1984-NCAA All-American; qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in the The Michigan Daily - Friday, July 20, 1984 - Page 19 Raising Ilel /,ByPAUL HELGREN Kimball,'M' divers .. . ... their turn in spotlight IF YOU WILL notice, Michigan's Olympic divers are prominently featured on these two pages. At first I questioned the inequity of this-after all, there are seven other athletes associated with the University that will com- pete in Los Angeles. But then I figured, hey, why not? It's not often athletes from so-called minor sports grace this sports section. Under the deluge of football, basketball and hockey, great athletes- like divers Bruce Kimball, Christina Seufert and Ron Merriott - are occasionally overlooked. And if ever there was a time to compensate for that negligence, now is that time. The Olympics are indeed the biggest mediagaggle in sports. ABC-TV tells us that somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.5 billion people will wat- ch some part of the Games. That comes to about 15,000 filled Michigan Stadiums. So any extra praise for the divers-probably the University's best chance for a medal-is well deserved. A troika for Kimball Not enough praise can be heaped on Dick Kimball these days. The Michigan and co-Olympic diving coach pulled off a triple-coup when three of his divers qualified for the Summer Games. A host of other Kimball divers-including Kent Ferguson and Vicki Kimball-failed to qualify but made noble showings at the diving trials in Indianapolis two weeks ago. Placing athletes on The Team is nothing new for Kimball. Thirteen Kimball pupils have reached such heights in previous Olympiads, in- cluding three gold and one silver medalists. Kimball has either been Olympic coach or had divers on the team every Olympiad since 1964. But this year has to be special. This year Dick Kimball will watch his son Bruce plummet from the 10-meter tower in Los Angeles. "Yeah, it's a thrill," said the 49-year- Kimball old Kimball of his son's Olympic qualifications. "It was nice to see Bruce make it. It's always nice when it's your own flesh and blood." The young Kimballs arrival marks the culmination of years of labor by both father and son. The training has been year-round, both at the University's Matt Mann pool and at Kimball's own training center in Brandon, Fla. The pool in Brandon looms large in the success of the Kim- ball Divers. It, unlike Matt Mann, is equipped with a 10-meter platform, which happens to be Bruce Kimball's area of ex- pertise. The Brandon pool is also where young divers, often in awe of Kimball, come to learn from one the premier diving coaches on the planet. "Most kids come to the camp afraid of Dick," said Kim- ball's wife Gail, herself a former diving instructor. "But most of them end up endearing themselves to him." One reason for this initial fear, it seems, it the mystique of the "tower." An imposing sight from 10 meters (about 33 feet), the platform has inflicted a healthy dose of vertigo on more than one diver. And because Kimball specializes in the tower, many incoming divers have the misguided notion that he will force them to attempt the breath-taking plunge. Seufert: 'I was afraid of him . ..' 1984 Olympian Seufert is a good example of a young diver who came to Kimball's camp with a quivering lip. Though she now speaks of Kimball with unabashed adulation, she confessed that during those first few days she stepped lightly around him. "He's not a big man (5'5/") but he has a look of authority to him," said Seufert, who first met Kimball at age 16. "I was afraid of him at first. He was Dick Kimball and I associated him with the tower. There's something intimidating about that." Seufert got over her initial trepidation to become Kimball's second two-time Olympian (gold medalist Micki King was the other). Although she burns for a chance to capture the coveted gold, Seufert would be content with what she's already achieved. And, she insists, none of it would have been possible without Dick Kimball "I couldn't have done it without him. We did it together." Merriott at a glance NAME: Ronald Merriott. BORN: May 24, 1960 (Rockford, Ill.). NUMBERS: 5'8", 158 pounds. SCHOOL: Attended Michigan 1979-82. Plans to graduate after this sum- mer. OLYMPIC EVENT: Three-meter springboard, August 7-8. HIGHLIGHTS: 1078-Finished fourth in the one-meter springboard and .fifth in the three-meter at the U.S.A. Age Group DivingChampionships. 1980-Took first in the one-meter at the Big Ten championships. 1981-Captured second at both the indoor and outdoor U.S.A. Senior Nationals in the one-meter; picked up second in the three-meter at the same meet; finished third in the three-meter at the National Sports Festival. 1982-NCAA All-American; captain 'M' swimming and diving team; finished first at the NCAA's in the three-meter and fourth in the one- meter. U.S.A. Senior National champ in both the one- and three-meter (indoor). 1983-First at the Austrailian Nationals in the 10-meter platform; first in the U.S.A. Senior Nationals in the one-meter. 1984-Second in the America Cup in the three-meter; qualified for the U.S. Olympicteam in the three-meter.