Date: Fri 08-Dec-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: TOMW

Illustration: I

Quick Words:

Kyle-McCullough-Feature

Full Text:

Feature, Freshman Diver Kyle McCullough

B Y T.W YATT

He grew up with a basketball in his hands.

Basketball was always Kyle McCullough's favorite sport.

But one fateful day last summer all that may have changed for a mere twenty

five cents.

What has the potential to become one of Newtown High School's most-prominent

diving careers ever, all began with a quarter in the pay phone at Treadwell

Park. " Matt Burns, who swam for me a couple of years ago, and who knows

talent when he sees it, called me from the Treadwell pool and asked me to come

down to see this kid dive, " remembers NHS swim coach Brian Reiff. " I was

busy working, so I didn't think much of it. About two weeks later another of

my former swimmers, Christer Rundloff, called me from Treadwell also. He told

me, 'Coach, there's an eighth grader on the board who's unbelievable. You have

to see this.' Having heard it a second time, I became curious. "

Coach Reiff met with the then-13-year-old McCullough, and his mother, at

Treadwell one evening, introduced himself, and asked Kyle to dive.

" He was real shy, and his knees were knocking, but he got up on the board and

did a two [flips], " Reiff said, smiling and lifting his eyebrows. " I know

some good divers who were never able to do that. Then he did a one-and-a-half,

and a reverse-one, and he's nailing everything. I just looked at his mother

and said, 'Do you realize how talented this kid is? I've never seen anybody

like him.' I'm not so sure she believed me at first. "

Reiff then sent Kyle over to Shepaug High School in Washington where diving

coach Steve Toth could have a look-see.

Toth was as impressed.

"I've been coaching diving for 15 years and Kyle may well be the most gifted

diver I've ever seen," Toth said. "He needs to grow and mature, but I have

very high hopes for him. His potential is awe some."

Now that it had been established that coach Reiff might have a diving prodigy

on his hands, the real problem arose: McCullough's favorite sport, basketball,

was played during the same season as swimming.

And not only was basketball Kyle's favorite sport, but he was damned good at

it too.

Last season on the Newtown Middle School basketball team, McCullough was the

leading scorer and most valuable player.

" Kyle is a tremendously talented basketball player, " said middle school

coach, Gino LoRicco. " As far as quickness, shooting ability, and

ballhandling, he has all of what you would consider good basketball skills. He

is also one of the quickest kids I've ever coached. I think back to the last

game of the season when he beat an undefeated team, New Fairfield. He made

some moves on them that the ref probably should have called traveling, but his

feet moved so fast that no one could tell if he really was. "

Entering into his freshman year in high school in September, it soon became

decision time for McCullough and his family. There would be no Deion Sanders

stuff here. It was going to have to be one sport or the other.

" The whole diving thing was pretty exciting, but the only thing that stinks

is that it's during basketball season, " said Kyle, who is also a perennial

baseball all-star. " It was kind of a tough decision. My father was a swimmer,

but my mother loves basketball and so do I. I finally decided to try diving

for a year to see how I liked it. If I don't like it I can always go back to

basketball next year. "

Coach Reiff wasn't surprised.

" I don't know how good he is at basketball, " Reiff said. " But, unless he's

the next coming of Mark Price, he'll never be as good at basketball as he

could be at diving. Realistically, he won't get a Division I basketball

scholarship coming out of Newtown High School. His chances of going to a major

college and getting money for diving are a lot greater. "

Those who knew Kyle, though, were a bit shocked.

"I was surprised he switched," coach LoRicco said, when he received the news.

"Just because he loved basketball so much. Playing basketball was part of who

Kyle was."

Having made his choice, McCullough began training regularly with Toth and

entered into his first-ever competition earlier this fall in upstate New York.

Competing against 40 divers, some older and more-experienced than himself,

McCullough placed first.

" The kid's an incredible story, " Reiff said. "This kind of stuff doesn't

happen in real life. He's got the God-given ability to get up on the board and

do things that people have been practicing for years and years and years to

do. He has the natural instincts that you just don't see every day. He knows

how to handle the board, he knows how to go off the board, and his entries are

beautiful. He can do it all, and he's never had a lesson. He'll try a new dive

just one or two times and he'll have it down. "

Though Kyle's previous diving experience was limited to his fooling around at

neighborhood pools, he's no stranger to the art.

" We've had a trampoline since I was about two, " he said. " And we keep it up

all year round. That's where I first learned to do flips and stuff. "

With the Newtown High School swim team having begun practice last week, Kyle

is also traveling out of town for special instruction with coach Toth.

And as good as Kyle is already, coach Reiff smiles until his cheeks numb when

he thinks of what a few years of coaching will bring.

" At this level, diving is a lot of learning, " he said. " I would honestly

say that he's the second or third-best diver in the conference, this minute.

And I'd also say that he's in the top 20 in the state right now. The

possibilities for this kid are endless. "

" Somebody who can learn a front two-and-a-half by himself, on a

non-regulation board, has some talent, " Toth beamed. " I'd hate to put any

pressure or high expectations on Kyle, but I'm expecting him to score 8's this

year. And that's unheard of for a freshman. "

What, then, about Larry Newquist's long-standing NHS diving record of 247.60?

" He'll challenge for that, this year, " said Rieff.

So far, the attention received during the whole experience has been taken in

stride by the NHS freshman.

" Diving is fun, " he says with a shrug. " I'm a water kind of person I guess.

But I don't know, I'll probably end up playing basketball again. "

Whether Kyle McCullough sticks with diving, or switches back over to

basketball later on down the line, Newtown High School sports followers will

be guaranteed one thing for sure: they'll get the opportunity to watch an

exceptional young athlete perform.

Somewhere.