The Dive

Jonathan stretched his muscles. Each year, Jonathan and his friends participated in the diving contest at the community pool. Divers from all over the county came to participate.

The competition began with all the divers making an assigned dive. They were given points based on how they pointed their toes, tucked their heads, and on the form of the dive. Jonathan performed his dive and scraped up enough points to move on to the next round.

At this level, the diver could select the dive of his or her choice. Thoughts of the final dive came into Jonathan’s mind. All the divers gathered around discussing who was left to compete. Jonathan noticed a poor boy that had on an old swimsuit. Jonathan laughed with his peers about how this boy managed to slip into this level of divers.

The boy was first, and he made his way up to the highest board. He made his dive and then sat down. It was a sloppy dive without much finesse. Jonathan was next. He performed his dive without a hitch.

All the divers were stunned when the poor boy’s name was announced. The judge threw up his hands and said, “His dive may not have been the cleanest, but it was the riskiest by far. I gave points for guts and for trying.”

Jonathan walked away shaking his head, determined to do it differently next year.