The Daily Campus

Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Matt Lin The new flat screen televisions have helped the swimming and diving program.

The men's and women's swimming and diving team have seen a majority of their growth and success in recent years.

A season after both the men and women placed first at the annual Terrapin Cup in Maryland and fifth at the Big East finals, the Huskies appear to be on track to do just as much, if not more, damage in 2007-08.

In fact, they are picking up from last year's 8-1 and 7-3 records, respectively, as the men are undefeated at 3-0 and the women have just as many wins but suffered a loss to conference rival Rutgers two weeks ago.

And with one the largesr and more talented freshman classes in the program's history, the Huskies have been steadily emerging as a conference contender.

To top it off, this season they have the help of some state-of-the-art technology.

Courtesy of Dr. Bruce Silverstein - father of 2008 graduate diver Rachel Silverstein - the diving program has had the luxury of honing their skills by way of an innovative instant replay system, acquired at the start of the 2007-08 season.

Silverstein's gift to the program was a "thank you" for allowing his daughter - a walk on - to do something she loved tremendously.

"She really wanted to dive and the coach gave her the opportunity," Silverstein said. "The least I can do is help them out and give them something they needed."

The system consists of two independent playback units, with two flat-screen televisions attached to their own replay device, both mounted behind the three-meter springboards located at the center back walls of the deep end. Two infrared cameras sit high above on the left and right walls, each focusing on a one-meter board and three-meter board on its respective side.

The Huskies no longer have to wait to view their dives after practice, but instead can rise to the surface, receive verbal feedback, and most importantly, watch all aspects of their dive - from the launch point to the landing - on 32-inch, high-definition monitors. The dive is replayed about 30 seconds after the landing, a time set by coach John Bransfield.

"[The replay] is close enough so that you can see specific details of your body movements," senior Liza Marianni said. "It's literally like taking an action shot," added the All-Conference diver.

Continued...

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