Garnet Valley Press, August 25, 2004
Pair of Water Wunderkinds Share a Love for Diving
By Bob Denney Jr.
Deep in the heart of the Linvilla Orchards in Media, Pennsylvania, something very special began to grow and take root this summer. No, we are not talking about the bountiful crops of mouth watering fruit that the legendary farm is so famous for producing. Nearly every county native is aware of the sensational produce that the local grove harvests year in and year out. We are referring to a pair of divers, Rob Kuderka and Jacob Gilbert, that the Orchard’s swim clubs and their diving coach Mary Schlegel, are cultivating.
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Kuderka, of Thornton, and Gilbert, of Media, were teammates this past summer on the Knowlton Swim Club’s diving squad that competes in the Delco League. What makes this specific pair of high fliers stand out is not only their aerial acumen but the unique friendship that the two boys have developed in spite of a significant age difference. Rob will be a senior this fall at the Salesianum School in Wilmington, Delaware while Jacob is only four years of age. The two daredevils of the diving boards bonded shortly after Gilbert’s mother Jill asked Schlegel if she would be interested in giving her feisty four year old some diving lessons. It turns out that Jacob took to diving like a fish takes to water and Jill needed to quench his thirst. Schlegel, who has helped to develop dozens of top flight divers in her forty plus years of coaching, took one look at the young squirt fearlessly flying off the one meter board at Knowlton and agreed to add him to her talented ‘pool’ of aquatic acrobats.
Jacob practiced weekly with Rob and the other members of the squad from mid June through August, eventually mastering not only a forward dive but a back dive as well as the “egg roll”, a variation of a flip. He even competed in one of the team’s diving meets towards the end of the season, drawing rave reviews for his prowess and performance. “He did great and everyone loved him!” said Schlegel of the gregarious Gilbert. “The kids (at Knowlton) kinda adopted him. He has an infectious smile and idolizes the other divers. And he loved to watch Rob dive and followed him all over.”
As far as mentors go, Jacob picked a pretty good one. Kuderka is the three-time defending interscholastic state diving champion of Delaware. Another in a long line of Schlegel’s diving disciples that includes former Garnet Valley great Derek Schiller, the 2003 Class AA Pennsylvania state titlist, Rob only took up the sport five years ago. An avid gymnast since his youth, he decided to give diving a try at the suggestion of Schiller, a fellow tumbler at the time. Like his current young protégé, Kuderka quickly caught the diving bug. “I thought he would be a good one from the start,” explains Schlegel proudly. “He had great lines and form and just needed to learn more dives and become more consistent.” The diving den mom of Delaware County is also quick to credit the Linvill Family, the owners of both the Knowlton and Hidden Hollow swim clubs who have been very supportive of the summer diving programs, for helping her to develop the crop of local divers.
As for the four year old phenom, Schlegel sees similar potential for greatness. “I think he (Jacob) can be a really good diver too if that’s what he decides he wants but of course he’s very young. For now, we just want him to have fun!”