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In a Wednesday interview with Boston College’s student newspaper The Heights, BC swimming and diving coach Tom Groden questioned the sportsmanship of Brown’s men’s and women’s diving squads, accusing them of diving deliberately in order to receive higher scores from judges.
“It’s one thing to dive when you absolutely have to,” said Groden, “but seeing the theatrical way the Brown kids dive, I sometimes wonder if they’re being 100 percent honest.”
Groden denounced the Brown squad’s tendency to twist and writhe as they dove to the water, calling such embellishments “gratuitous and pathetic.”
But Brown divers rebutted Groden’s accusations and argued that refusing to dive would put their team at a competitive disadvantage compared to other teams that embrace it.
“[Groden] is a hypocrite. I doubt there’s a single member on BC’s diving squad who hasn’t dived at some point in their college career,” said Alex Landrieu ‘13. “Diving is part of the sport. Get used to it.”
Brown’s first swim meet of the season is October 30th at Boston College. Groden warned that he would be watching closely for divers and added that he “better not catch any of [Brown’s] swimmers wearing goggles, or there’ll be hell to pay.”
