U.S. Outdoor Diving Championships : Neyer Is Top Qualifier in Springboard

Tristan Baker-Schultz has come to the Phillips 66/U.S. Outdoor Diving Championships after already having won the 3-meter springboard event at the U.S. Indoor Championships in April.

Eileen Richetelli has come from nowhere. Well, she came from Milford, Conn., which is not exactly the diving capital of the United States. In fact, Milford may not be the diving capital of Connecticut.

But it is where Richetelli learned to dive only 3 1/2 years ago, goofing around with friends at the local YMCA. This is only her second senior national competition.

Now Baker-Schultz and Richetelli appear to be diving close to their best. Wednesday, they were 2 of the 12 divers who qualified for Saturday’s 3-meter springboard final in the meet at Heritage Aquatic Park in Irvine.

Neither finished high in the standings, but for the finals, all previous scores will be wiped out. In the qualifying, Baker-Schultz was 8th with 440.13 points. Richetelli was 11th with 428.97.

Megan Neyer of Boca Raton, Fla., led the qualifiers with 511.47, and Wendy Lian Williams of Miami was second with 486.15.

If Richetelli and Baker-Schultz are traveling the same road, they are on opposite sides of the center-divider--one coming, one going.

Baker-Schultz is near the end of her career. At 26, she has been a member of every U.S. national team, save 1983, since 1981.

Her trek to the top of American diving started in Utah and progressed through Mission Viejo, Boston, Boca Raton, Fla., and points in between.

The in-betweens included a marriage that, at least in some senses, got an assist from the phone company, and a series of also-ran finishes in national meets that for a while convinced her she could not win.

She has sacrificed for the sport, which, most recently, has meant a self-imposed exile from her husband, Ted, so she can train in Boca Raton with Coach Ron O’Brien.

Ted remained at Boston University, where he was a graduate student in physical therapy.

“Thank God for the telephone,” she said. “It’s been hard, but it was something we decided on together.”

She hoped that going back to O’Brien, who had been her coach at Mission Viejo, would give her whatever was missing from her performances. Between 1985 and 1987, Baker-Schultz finished either second or third in seven straight national meets.

“At first, finishing second or third was great,” she said. “But when it happens time and time again, you start to wonder, is this as good as I am. Is the best I can do, second best?”

But she and Ted have decided that 1988 will be the end of her diving career--Olympics or not.

“I think making the decision has allowed me to focus,” she said.

Given the fact Richetelli is 16, focus may be hard to come by. She was discovered by her coach, Jim Pyrch, diving at the Milford YMCA.

“He always tells me these great things I can do, but I never believed him,” she said.

Mike Wantuck placed first in the men’s 10-meter platform semifinals. Wantuck scored 587.67 to edge Bruce Kimball’s 583.71.

Greg Louganis placed 5th with 542.85, though he was as low as 10th after seven dives.