Going for the gold: Elwood teenager
to compete in Beijing Olympics
By Caroline B. Mooney (The Catholic Moment)
ELWOOD—Nine years of hard work paid off in one phone call.
On July 7, 15-year-old Mary Beth Dunnichay received the news that she will represent the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. She and Haley Ishimatsu, also 15, will compete as a duo in women’s 10-meter synchronized platform diving.
“When I was little, I used to watch my cousin and my brother at their diving practices, and I tried to do the same stuff they did,” said Mary Beth, a member of St. Joseph Parish in Elwood. “I could do the same things without any training, so they thought I should try diving.”
Since 1999, she has done just that—for six to eight hours a day, six days a week.
“When I got the call, I was so excited. It was just overwhelming—I started crying,” she said. “It was fun. We had a party at the house and a parade through town.”
After taking two days off to let it all sink in, Mary Beth went right back to her daily training regimen. She left for California on July 28 for Olympic processing. The Olympic Games open in Beijing on Aug. 8 and run through Aug. 24.
“The night before a competition, I always pray and my church [community] has been praying for me. I know that has helped,” Mary Beth said.
Her ritual before every dive is to dry off with her “sammy,” a little sports towel—then kiss the towel and throw it down.
Mary Beth was in Beijing in February for the World Cup and competed in the pool that will be used in the Olympics.
“The venue was nice, and everything went really well,” she said.
The home-schooled teenager trains at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis with Coach John Wingfield, who has been named head coach of the Olympic diving team. Her assistant coach, Wenbo Chen, was chosen as the Olympic assistant coach.
In synchronized diving, two divers of the same gender perform the same or complementary dives from different boards of the same level at the same time. The goal is to have the two dives mirror each other. They are judged on the synchronization and execution of the dives. Synchronized diving first became a medal sport in the Olympics in 2000.
“The Dunnichays are a very, very wonderful family,” said Father Paul Cochran, pastor of St. Joseph Parish. “They are at Mass every week. They have been working hard at this for years. Mary Beth is a well-rounded, wonderful young lady, and a humble child. She is as active as she can be in the parish. She spends so much time with diving. The entire parish has been praying for her. I was at her house ... after they found out she had made the Olympic team—they were so excited. They always do things with style. Neighbors had already spray-painted Hula Hoops in the Olympic ring colors to decorate their yard. It was beautiful to see them.”
“The things she’s been able to see and experience at 15 are incredible,” said Marian Dunnichay, Mary Beth’s mother. “We have been blessed, truly blessed. … It’s hard to wrap yourself around it. The town is making shirts with pictures of her, and she’s autographing them.
“Bishop [William L.] Higi has blessed her twice, Father Paul prays here at church and had everyone say a decade of the rosary for her. Her uncle’s cloistered community of monks is praying for her—it goes from our little Catholic community all the way to the monks in Chile. We have lit a lot of candles. I’m still taking deep breaths.”
“I am really proud of her,” said her father, Ned Dunnichay. “All the hard work and commitment have really paid off—she’s an Olympian. We will try to get all our family there somehow. The whole community, our church family, Father Paul and [St. Joseph] Sister Rosie [Coughlin] have been terrific.”
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