KNOXVILLE – The Tennessee diving program is about to get quite the boost within the next couple years after the addition of new signees Liam Stone and Rachel Rubadue after the 2014 National Signing Week.<\/p>\n
Stone, a native of Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand, will enroll at UT this January. Diving for his country has already provided Stone with quite the resume on the international stage. At age 17, Stone represented his country at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland, the first male diver for New Zealand since 1998.<\/p>\n
While in Glasgow, Stone dove consistently, especially in the one-meter springboard competition, where he finished with a personal-best score of 382.10, a major improvement from the 343.35 score in the preliminary round.<\/p>\n
“Liam is going to add immediate depth and help,” said Head Diving Coach Dave Parrington. “He’s an outstanding diver with an enormous amount of experience, especially gained in this past year, both at the junior international level and also the senior international level. My experience has been that for people who have come from different countries, if they’re well-traveled or are experienced at the international scene, then the transition is somewhat easier. I’m just excited about his presence on the team.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the ladies’ diving duo will also be adding another teammate next fall, when Rachel Rubadue made her commitment official to become part of the Lady Vol tradition. A Columbus, Ohio, native and graduate of Worthington Kilbourne High School, Rubadue officially signed her National Letter of Intent on Friday, November 14, at her high school and, like Stone, boasts quite the international resume at such a young age.<\/p>\n
Rubadue recently represented Team USA at the Pan-American Sports Festival in Mexico City, Mexico, this past September, where she placed in the top-six in both of her events, claiming fourth place in the 10-meter synchronized event with a score of 253.62 and then placed sixth in the individual 10-meter event with a score of 269.65.<\/p>\n
“We’re extremely excited to be able to add her to next year’s class,” said Parrington. “She’s a fine young lady that comes from an excellent family, which will really fit the mold of our family atmosphere that we have on this team. Her strength of character (and) her ability in the world of diving has been proven already, where she’s had success on both the national and international level.<\/p>\n
“She fits the mold of what we’re looking for and will no doubt help us continue our extremely rich tradition of outstanding diving here at Tennessee.”<\/p>\n
The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n