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Terrier on board
Diver Stacey Gallacher plunges into the record books

By Jason Pallante (COM'02)

When Stacey Gallacher is on a springboard three meters above an Olympic-size swimming pool, all she can think about is becoming champion diver Stacey Gallacher. But when she's taking notes in a lecture hall, all she can think about is becoming Dr. Stacey Gallacher.

Gallacher (CAS'04) is a freshman diver, and she may be the best ever to don the Terrier scarlet-and-white swimsuit.

Despite the time commitment diving requires of Gallacher, attending classes is her first priority. "I think the diving helps with my studies," she says. "I know I have to get things done beforehand. School is definitely important to me, but diving is a close second." She currently maintains a 3.0 GPA as a biology major and premed student.

	Stacey Gallacher (CAS'04) of the Boston University diving team readies -- and steadies -- herself in preparation for a dive at a recent meet. Photo by Rob Klein

Prior to the ECAC championships in late February, Gallacher had racked up seven wins and one second-place finish on the one-meter board. On the three-meter board -- an event she had never competed in before coming to BU -- she was undefeated in eight meets.

In fact, Gallacher, who hails from Horsehenhos, N.Y., never dove before high school. She was always interested in gymnastics, but it took an encounter with her high school's diving coach for her to take the plunge.

"I was always in the water when I was younger, but I never thought about diving," she says. "I never even considered diving a sport. But I was playing around on the diving board in gym class one day, and the diving coach took me aside and told me that I should join the team. So I decided to give it a try. I've stuck with it ever since."

After Gallacher made diving a regular part of her life, she quickly learned to deal with the rigors of bus rides to meets and negotiating classroom assignments with her teachers. During the summer, she travels to diving camp at Indiana University, where she practices for six or seven hours daily. She even spent the second half of her Christmas break training in Fort Lauderdale with her BU teammates.

Gallacher aspires to compete in the Nationals, but she also has one special event in the back of her mind. "I think about the Olympics a lot," she says. "Just to be able to go to trials would be a great experience."

It is that sort of dedication and her love for the water that impresses Agnes Miller, BU diving coach and two-time Olympic participant for Hungary, about the freckled freshman prodigy. "Stacey is a really easy person to get along with," says Miller. "She's a hard worker and reacts well to my coaching. I love coaching her, and I'm glad she's on our team, not somewhere else.

"She's a strong-minded person and a fighter," continues Miller. "She has the will and she definitely has the dive to make it to Nationals. I really believe that she can make it and, if not, we will try again next year."

Stacey Gallacher placed third in the America East championships, in both the one- and three-meter dives. At the ECAC championships, she placed second in the one-meter and fourth in the three-meter dive.

16 March 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations