PHOTO COURTESY OF CATHY ROWE
Don McKenney, left, with Sarah Sirois of Classical, who won one of the diving awards named for McKenney at the Lynn city swim banquet earlier this month.
By STEVE KRAUSE
LYNN — More than 20 years ago, Don McKenney — who set several diving records at Lynn Tech — was severely injured in a diving accident that changed his life forever — in both good and bad ways.
The impact of the accident was catastrophic. When his head hit the bottom of the swimming pool into which he’d dived, the force shattered a vertebra, severed his spinal cord, and left him permanently paralyzed.
He said it took him “four or five” years to make the necessary adjustments, both mentally and physically.
“I had to become adapted to my own personal situation,” he said. He faced the inevitable depression that went along with adjusting to the injury, but in the end, he discovered that returning to the venue that served as the backdrop for his teenage years was the tonic that helped him accept his fate.
“All of a sudden, he said, “my life had changed. But it was just kind of a natural pull back to the pool. And once I got there, it just felt natural again.”
That was 16 years ago. Since then, he’s gradually become an indelible and indispensable part of the city’s swimming program. He coaches diving for all three public school teams — something he says lends a little bit of normalcy to his life — and this year, he’s been able to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
Next month, he will accept the award as the Winter/North Coach of the Year, which is given by the Eastern Mass. Coaches Association. In May, he will be inducted into the Tech Hall of Fame.
“To tell you the truth, it’s a little overwhelming,” said McKenney. “I kind of like to stay on an even keel and do my thing, coaching. I don’t really get into all the awards.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “It’s an honor. But it’s not why I do this.”
There are several reasons for that.
“It helps gain a sense of normalcy,” he said. “Even though throughout my life, I’ve come to understand there is no normal baseline for everybody. We all have to grab our own perception of it.”
When he decided go back to the pool, he did it with trepidation.
“It was difficult at first to figure out whether I would feel comfortable in that environment, which was always one of my favorite things to do,” he said.
But fortunately, many of the same coaches who taught him how to swim and dive were still at their schools that many years later. There was Brad Tilley, his coach at Tech; Charlie Rowe, Tilley’s assistant; Denise Silva at Classical; and Marianne Duncan and Michelle Conlon at English.
“Having them there was critical,” McKenney said. “I automatically felt welcomed back. I was able to ease back into it and not feel overwhelmed by my situation.”
In the beginning, McKenney simply came around and helped the divers. Eventually he became a full-fledged assistant at the behest of his friends, the coaches.
In that time, he has coached 24 Sectional and/or state qualifiers in Diving, 12 Northeastern and Commonwealth Conference champions and 20 all-stars. His divers have consistently set or broken individual school records and overall Lynn high school diving records almost every year.
In addition, McKenney coached six divers in North sectionals in 2012, and this year’s girls and boys Northeastern Conference champions. Five of his divers have gone on to compete in college.
He’s reticent to take too much credit for the accomplishments of his divers, “though,” he said, “it sounds kind of greedy to say that I feel the accomplishment too.
“But they do all the work and put in the effort, and stay focused,” he said. “I just give them guidance and direction.”
That can different for each diver, McKenney said.
“Some of them need a little more motivation,” he said. “Some have the drive that keeps them going. Others need more work on the technical aspects of diving, positioning, technicality aspects.
“A certain amount of it is trying to instill confidence in each student athlete,” he said. “It’s the nature of the sport. Jumping off a diving board can be a little scary. It takes a lot of confidence.”
