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Kalibat's Diligence, Special Diving Talent Lands Her a Spot in Upcoming Nationals
By Bill Alden
As a distance specialist with the Eastern Express swimming club, Natalie Kalibat started to find her mind wandering during the team's arduous practice sessions.
During breaks, Kalibat started paying more and more attention to the divers practicing at The College of New Jersey pool, marveling at their acrobatic moves off the board.
With a four-year background in gymnastics, Kalibat eventually concluded that she would have a lot more fun soaring into the pool than churning through it.
Having switched her athletic focus, the 11-year-old Princeton resident has taken the express route to success in diving.
After joining the TCNJ-based Blue Dolphin diving club last September, Kalibat is soaring up the charts in the world of competitive diving. Earlier this month, she placed fifth in both the 11-and-under one-meter and three-meter events at a regional competition in Boston.
This weekend, Kalibat, a sixth-grader at John Witherspoon School, heads to Athens, Ga. to compete in those two events at the East Nationals.
Kalibat has no regrets about taking the step up to diving. "I was getting bored with swimming," said Kalibat, who competed in the 500 freestyle and the 400 individual medley. 'I would look up at the divers and I would see them doing triples. I thought that was so cool."
For Kalibat, making the move to the Blue Dolphin program has been a vital step in her progression as a diver.
"I started diving in the summers with the Community Park team,' recalled Kalibat. "We could only do one-meter dives with single flips and front dives. I joined the Blue Dolphin club last September. The coach, Candace Gottlieb, is very good. She has trained kids who have gone on to the Olympic trials."
While diving may be cool for Kalibat, it definitely has required a lot of work. On a typical week, Kalibat trains three hours a day from Monday to Thursday and two hours on Fridays.
"You have to stay in shape," explains Kalibat. "If you take two weeks off, you get out of shape."
Coach Gottlieb, for her part, has been impressed by her young protégé's work ethic. "She comes to practice everyday and works hard," said Gottlieb. "She is very disciplined. She is becoming very consistent. That is very special for someone who is 11."
Gottlieb also believes that Kalibat brings a special set of skills to the diving board. "She is really talented," asserted Gottlieb, who is also the head diving coach at TCNJ and was named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 1997.
"She can spin well, she lines up well. She has a good body for the sport. She is already making difficult dives like the back two and a half and the one and a half inward double. I would say she is in the top 3 percent of athletes I have coached in terms of talent."
In Gottlieb's view, Kalibat learned some valuable lessons at the regional competition. "She actually could've been in the top three in her events at the regional," added Gottlieb.
"Her nerves got to her a little bit, she doesn't have a lot of experience in those kind of meets. I think Natalie has the potential of making the top 12 at the nationals."
The national meet could be the first of many big meets for the precocious Kalibat. "I'm ecstatic about her progress," declared Gottlieb, who also coached Hun School freshman Danica Roskos to the national meet. "Just to make the nationals is amazing. She has the potential to dive in college at a very good school."
Kalibat believes her experience at the regionals will help prepare her for this weekend and beyond.
"I had some of my best dives but I also didn't do as well as I can on some other dives," said Kalibat, who plans to start competing from the tower. "I'm excited about the nationals. I'd like to be in the top three. I want to make it to the Olympics someday."
With the rapid progress Kalibat has already made in diving, she certainly has reason to be excited about her future in the sport.
