La Cañada Girls Place in Diving Competition

Despite tornado sirens blaring them out of bed, and hail the size of golfballs, two La Cañada girls were not to be defeated in an Oklahoma City diving competition.

seventh grader Sydney Okland and seventh grader Kara Bradley competed in the Spring West Championships April 13-15. Both girls train under Isabel Saakian for the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center Dive team. 

Diving mom Sonja Bradley said the midwest weather was a bit scary, but the girls still shone: Okland qualified on the one meter board and placed 27th. Bradley qualified on all boards, and placed fourth on platform, 11th on 1-meter, and 13th on 3-meter. 

A total of 17 divers from the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center Dive Team traveled to Oklahoma to compete in the championships, said Aquatics Center spokeswoman Paige Kenny. More than forty teams west of the Mississippi were represented at the prestigious event, she added.

Divers, ages 5 - 18 were grouped by age and gender and competed in the 1- and 3- meter springboards as well as the 5-, 7.5- and 10-meter platforms. 

“Teams only sent athletes that qualified at Regionals, so we knew the competition would be tough,” stated Cristina Perovich, Head Coach, Dive.

“However, our athletes did a great job and represented our program very well!”

The Rose Bowl Aquatics Center Dive Team placed third overall with 29 medals: two gold, three silver and four bronze.