By Staff Writer: Travis Waker

It is clear that Howell senior diver Garrett Murphy has a strong connection to his diving team. When asked about his favorite part of diving, Murphy says, “I’ve been diving with these guys for four or five years, and it’s a lot of fun.”

The team practices two hours a day at Parker Middle School, along with having swim meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

This season Murphy recognizes the accomplishments the team has achieved, “Well, we are going to states in March, which is a big achievement, and we just beat Brighton which is a huge accomplishment because they’re a big rivalry to us.”

Before the state competition each year, the Howell swim and dive team bleach their hair blonde. ‘It’s a tradition. The whole team dies their hair blonde so we can stand out at states,” says Murphy.

Murphy says that while diving is fun it can also be challenging. “Your biggest challenge is that it’s an individual sport, which means you’re trying not to mess up, and not die,” says Murphy.

Murphy has been diving since sixth grade. His favorite dive is the back dive. “Since I’ve been doing it for awhile, it’s become almost textbook.”

He is most looking forward to the state finals coming up in March. “It is over an entire weekend,” he says of the competition. “You get closer to your team; it is good for team bonding.”

In wrapping up, Murphy once again hit on what an accomplishment it is to get to states and how big of a win it was for his team against Brighton. Overall, Murphy is a quality, humble athlete but he prefers talking about his team’s accomplishments over his own achievements. He appreciates the bonds he has built with his teammates over the years. In talking about the state finals, Murphy ends with a simple, “I hope we win.”

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