Published: July 08, 2008 11:46 pm            

Elwood diver makes Olympics

Fifteen-year-old Dunnichay earns ticket to Beijing

ELWOOD — For nearly three days, Mary Beth Dunnichay sampled virtually every distraction she could think of in an effort to separate herself from the anguish of not knowing.

Like most 15-year-old girls, Dunnichay likes to shop, so she shopped. She hung out with friends, chatted up family members. Basically anything and everything to mentally steer clear of the five-ring circus known as the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

The Elwood resident, who teams with Haley Ishimatsu, also 15, to comprise one of the United States’ premier women’s synchronized diving duos, understood any ring of her cell phone Monday could have life-altering ramifications.

Either Dunnichay would be wearing this country’s colors next month in Beijing, or she wouldn’t. No third option existed.

At around 11 a.m., Dunnichay, at this point a 5-foot bundle of nervous energy, finally heard from her coach, John Wingfield.

“I answered and he said, ‘I got the e-mail. Did you?’ I was like, ‘No,’ and he told me he would send it to me,” said Dunnichay. “I asked him if it was good news or bad news. He said, ‘You’re an Olympian,’ and I just started crying.”

USA Diving revealed its 12-person team Monday for the upcoming Olympics, adding eight divers to the four who won events last month at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis.

The roster carries a distinctive Indiana flavor, with Noblesville’s David Boudia and Indianapolis’ Thomas Finchum, members of the U.S. men’s team in both the 10-meter platform and synchronized 10-meter, also on board.

Meanwhile, four others, including the California-born Ishimatsu, train on Hoosier soil.

It was at a five-day selection camp at the University of Tennessee from Wednesday through Sunday where the Dunnichay-Ishimatsu tandem competed against the team of Texans’ Laura Wilkinson and Jessica Livingston.

Wilkinson, a poised veteran who won the gold medal in the 10-meter platform at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and will compete in two events in Beijing, turns 31 in November.

Needless to say, Dunnichay and Ishimatsu had their work cut out.

“It was virtually head-on-head when you look at the statistical analysis. The difference, I think, was the past world-class competitions (Dunnichay-Ishimatsu) has been in, including the 2008 World Cup and the World Championships in Australia in March of 2007,” said Wingfield.

“Those were just two outstanding competitions for the girls. But the last 48 hours or so have been strenuous because it was so close.”

The World Cup, held in February, took place in Beijing, so Dunnichay will be making her second painfully long flight to China’s second-largest city, not her first. Her international résumé also includes the 2007 Pan American Games, the Canada Cup and the Italian Grand Prix.

Diving events at the Beijing Olympics begin Aug. 10 with women’s synchronized 3-meter finals and conclude Aug. 23 with men’s 10-meter semifinals and finals.

And one of Elwood’s own will be there. Competing, not observing.

“Just being there in that atmosphere will be awesome with all of the other countries,” Dunnichay said. “We get (Monday) and Tuesday off and then it’s back to hard training. Yeah, our goal is to be an Olympian, but we want to get a medal.”

Wingfield, who himself has been walking on air recently having been named the U.S. Olympic diving coach, believes there is a good chance of that happening.

“We’ve been (to Beijing). We’ve done our sightseeing,” said Wingfield, who also coaches Boudia and Finchum. “Now we want to make the podium, wrap ourselves in the American flag and bring some medals back to our country.”

For Dunnichay, the excruciating wait that made 72 hours seem like 720, is over. She can exhale. She can smile.

“It was really stressful,” she said. “I just tried not to think about it. It was hard, but it was worth it.”

        

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