Free Dive Right In by Matt Christopher

gave Traci so much
     to think about that she almost forgot to worry about the three-meter height.
    During her second week using a three-meter board, Traci did her first successful three-and-a-halfsomersault dives, both tuck and pike. She barely had time to feel proud of her accomplishment before Margo had her begin working
     on adding one and even two twists to these dives.
    As she came up from the pool after performing a three-and-a-half somersault dive with two twists in the pike position, she
     was surprised to see Sophia waiting for her. Traci hadn’t seen Sophia by the pool in several weeks.
    “I can’t believe how far you’ve gotten since I saw you dive,” Sophia said. “You almost nailed that dive, and it’s got a pretty
     high degree of difficulty.”
    Traci had learned how judges score dives in competition. A judge awards a dive a point total from 0 to 10. Ten means that
     the dive is perfect. A score like 8.8 means that the dive is very good. Scores such as 5.5 or less indicate that the dive
     is pretty poor.
    The point totals are then multiplied by a figure called the “degree of difficulty.” Every kind of dive has a degree of difficulty
     rating assigned by an international committee that regulates diving competitions. A relatively easy one, like a simple forwarddive in a tuck position, is rated at 1.4. A very hard dive—such as a backward three-and-a-half somersault dive in a tuck position—gets
     3.4.
    This means that a perfect performance of a very easy dive doesn’t score as well as a very good—but
not
perfect—performance of a hard dive. If you don’t attempt difficult dives in competition, you might perform well, but you
     won’t win.
    Pleased by Sophia’s praise, Traci said, “I still have a long way to go, but thanks.”
    “Sure you do. But Margo was right about you,” replied Sophia.
    Before Traci could ask what Margo had said, Margo herself joined them. “Sophia is here to help me with a simulated competition,”
     Margo said.
    “What’s that?” asked Traci.
    Margo explained. “Some of you will do five dives each, the same five. Sophia and I will act as judges and score the dives
     for quality, just as judges do in real competitions.”
    The rest of the girls gathered around. “There will be no winners or losers,” Margo continued. “I want to give some of you
     who have not competed a chanceto experience how these events work. Each diver will get the list of dives. The standard rules of competition will apply.
     Divers have to complete each dive within a time limit. They must keep their lists handy and do the dives in the right order.
     Once a diver is on the board, if she does not do the correct dive, or fails to dive, her score will be zero.”
    “I understand,” Traci said.
    “Good, because I want you to be one of the divers,” Margo said. “None of the dives you will do is beyond your present level
     of skill. And, as I said, there will be no winners or losers. But you will have an idea of how competitions are run. Also,
     this is being videotaped.” Margo pointed to a woman holding a camcorder. “You’ll get cassettes of your dives to study.”
    Traci nodded, her mouth suddenly dry. She was certain that all the other girls in this group were still much better than she
     was, no matter how much she had improved lately.
    Four girls were in the group in addition to Traci. When Traci read the list of dives that they were to do, she was relieved
     to see that she had done all ofthem. The most difficult was a two-and-a-half somersault reverse dive in a tuck position.
    The girls drew numbers from a box to determine the order in which they’d dive. Traci was to be the fourth one in each round.
     The first dive on the list was a backward one-and-a-half somersault in the pike position.
    The first diver did what looked to Traci to be a pretty good dive. The pike was not perfect. The girl didn’t bend enough,
     but her entry was fine. Margo gave the girl a 6.5 and Sophia