Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming & Diving at SMU Invitational on November 19, 2025 at All Day
All Day
Women's Swimming & Diving
at SMU Invitational
The University of Utah Athletics
Wednesday, December 18
Auburn, Ala.
University of Utah
vs
Auburn Diving Invitational
Utah Dive Wraps Day 1 in Alabama
12/18/2024 3:43 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
Utes send Helling to finals and earn fifth in team event
AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Utah's dive team completed their first of four days at the Auburn Diving Invitational with Jesco Helling earning a place in one-meter finals and the women's team earning fifth in the team event on Wednesday afternoon at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
In Wednesday's session, the men competed on the 1m springboards, while the women took part in the team event. The top 12 student-athletes on springboard continued on to Finals, with graduate Jesco Helling representing the Utes.
"Jesco had a solid showing on 1m today, it was good to see him fully fit after dealing with a back injury for the past month," said head diving coach Richard Marschner. "He looked really good and we just need a little work on finishing his entries. He went big in finals and pulled out 405b (inward 2 ½ pike) and I think with a little more training we can have it ready for Big 12s."
On the 1m
"In the team event we tried a different lineup and different dives than normal. It's good to experiment with some changes at these meets so that when February rolls around we'll have our best lineup," said Marschner.
Team Event
"I'm thrilled that we're in a conference like the Big 12 that values diving and scores the team event because it is going to be an extremely exiting event for everyone at conference this year," said Marschner.
Looking Ahead
Competition for the divers continues through Saturday morning, tomorrow's events include the women's one-meter and men's three-meter beginning at 10:30 a.m. CT.
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UTAHswimdive | Instagram: @utahswimdive | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahUtesSwimDive), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.
In Wednesday's session, the men competed on the 1m springboards, while the women took part in the team event. The top 12 student-athletes on springboard continued on to Finals, with graduate Jesco Helling representing the Utes.
"Jesco had a solid showing on 1m today, it was good to see him fully fit after dealing with a back injury for the past month," said head diving coach Richard Marschner. "He looked really good and we just need a little work on finishing his entries. He went big in finals and pulled out 405b (inward 2 ½ pike) and I think with a little more training we can have it ready for Big 12s."
On the 1m
- Helling finished his preliminary competition in sixth, earning a total score of 296.55 and a place in the 1-meter final. In his second list, Helling earned 58.50 points on his first dive, a front two and a half pike, contributing to his overall score of 300.20.
- The showstopper for Helling came in the final round, an inward two and a half pike—an incredibly difficult dive with a 3.4 degree of difficulty. The 47.60 points he earned were tallied into his final score and solidified a seventh-place finish.
- Freshmen Attila Bernatsky finished his six dives with a final score of 227.70.
"In the team event we tried a different lineup and different dives than normal. It's good to experiment with some changes at these meets so that when February rolls around we'll have our best lineup," said Marschner.
Team Event
- The team event is a new addition to NCAA Diving. In order to compete in this event, a team chooses three divers to compete two dives marking off all six groups and all three boards. For example, one diver competes a front dive and then a back dive on one meter, another would compete a gainer and inward on three meter and the final diver would do armstand and twister on tower.
- For the Utes, Junior Sydney Kowalski, senior Holly Waxman and junior Katherine Grant took part in the women's team event.
- Kowalski started Utah off with an armstand on platform and wrapped for the Utes with front 3 ½ pike on 10-meter.
- Waxman stepped in for the second and fourth dives with a gainer 1 ½ pike on one-meter and an inward 2 ½ tuck on 3m springboard.
- Grant rounded off the list with a back 1 ½ pike on 1m and a full-twisting two and a half pike, commonly referred to as a full-out, on 3m.
- Utah's efforts earned them a fifth-place finish.
"I'm thrilled that we're in a conference like the Big 12 that values diving and scores the team event because it is going to be an extremely exiting event for everyone at conference this year," said Marschner.
Looking Ahead
Competition for the divers continues through Saturday morning, tomorrow's events include the women's one-meter and men's three-meter beginning at 10:30 a.m. CT.
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UTAHswimdive | Instagram: @utahswimdive | Facebook: Facebook.com/UtahUtesSwimDive), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.
Players Mentioned
Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
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