Some may look at diving as an art form taking shape over the water. Others may look at it as simple recreational fun in the sun.’

For the Saluki diving squads diving is fierce competition between one’s own self to reach a higher level of performance after each dive.

The 1995-96 season for SIUC however, will be a transition year filled with instruction and learning for the relatively young diving squad.

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I’m looking forward to this season with this group of kids, SIUC diving coach Dave Ardrey said. One thing I’ve noticed with six or seven weeks practice is they’re a group of young people who really want to learn.

Ardrey said that every day he coaches, he should be a teacher. Everyday he comes to the pool, Ardrey said someone, if not the whole group, learns something.

Part of the reward of coaching is to get to know you came in today, somebody learned something, and you move on from there, he said.

The team will have plenty of tough competition to learn from and build upon this season with powerhouse schools such as Notre Dame, Kansas, and Nebraska on the schedule.

Ardrey said the goal of his team goes hand in hand with that of the swim team.

Our goals are two-fold. We focus on the Missouri Valley Championships in December, our conference, and we focus our attention the second half to what we call our championship season, which is the NCAA season, Ardrey said.

One glaring ommission from the SIUC diving squad this season is former All-American Rob Siracusano. According to Ardrey, changes such as this have to be accepted and the spaces have to be filled.

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It (the loss of Siracusano) changes the complexity of things, he said. Depending on the year to year make-up of your athletes are it changes the complexity of the team. This year, we’re going to be a very young team, a little inexperienced, but we’ve got some kids that are trying to step up and fill that void.

That is what college athletics is about. As people move on, other athletes have to step in and fill those roles, said Ardrey.

It is a transition, as Ardrey explains, coming from a senior-led team and going to a youth-oriented program. There are no seniors and only two juniors stand among the youthful team.

I think the leaders are going to emerge from within themselves, Ardrey said. It could be a freshman to a junior; there is a lot of jockeying for position right now,.

There are two talented freshmen on the diving board this season. Lydia Ball, a graduate of Centennial High School in Champaign, and Kevin Stratton, a graduate of Glendale High School in Springfield, Mo.

These kids are typical of what we recruit in this program, Ardrey said. They’re very talented young people it just takes a while to take talented young people and get them experienced,.

The coaching staff believes that the University of Evansville, Southwest Missouri State University, and Illinois State University will be contenders to watch for the diving competition in the MVC.

The Salukis begin their season Saturday, the Salukis host Evansville, Drury College, and Henderson State University at noon at the Recreation Center pool.