A record? Herricks' Honey hopes to dive right in

Considering the mountain she's trying to climb, Nicole Honey sounds remarkably relaxed and calm, talking on the phone about her goals.

"There's a little bit of pressure on me, but I think I'm more excited than pressured,'' said Honey, a senior diver for Herricks. "I'm excited because I think I'll do really well this year.''

The consensus is that Honey will have no problem doing "really well.'' Last season she won the Division A diving competition (431.35), finished second at the counties with a 431.95, her best, to the now-graduated Kim Harris, and placed sixth at the Federation State Championships (421.40).

But all of that could be a prelude. Honey's going for something bigger this season: the Nassau diving record.

No Nassau aquatic record has stood as long as the diving mark, a score of 505.35 by Wantagh's Donna Sapporito in 1990. Many have tried to surpass it, with at least a few getting to within the 499-point range in recent years. But after two decades, Sapporito's record still stands.

Part of the reason is limited opportunities. The only way to score high enough to reach the record is to compete in an 11- dive meet, and there are only three of those during the season: divisions, counties and states.

The other reason, of course, is the makeup of the diver.

"You have to think you're going to get a 10 on every dive,'' said George Taylor III of Long Island Diving, Honey's club team coach. "If you just say, 'I hope to get a good score,' you won't get one. It won't be good enough.''

Breaking this record goes far beyond having the prettiest, most complex or most daring dive.

"I think I just have to be more consistent with my dives,'' Honey said. "If I become more consistent, I know I'll get them all clean and I'll automatically get those high scores.''

She's also working with Taylor on jumping higher and spinning quicker. Honey came to Taylor three years ago having never dived. Since then Taylor said, "almost every coach and their grandmother has sent me letters about her.''

Talk about instant progress.

Also talk about a reserve of mental strength, something Taylor said Honey has in spades, and something he said will be key if she's going to attain the Nassau record.

"The first time I was able to get her to jump, just do normal jumps off the diving board, I knew I had a pretty good kid here,'' Taylor said. "She's got a chance to be something special. But it's going to come down to who's mentally focused. "

Honey's focus and determination could come from having to dive as an independent her first year, as a sophomore, because Herricks didn't yet have a program. "It was kind of rough because I had to do my own thing,'' Honey said. "Make sure I got enough meets in, and fend for myself so that I could make the qualifications.''

But the tranquil demeanor with which she talks, and the cool attitude that allows her to shrug off a sub-par dive, has been honed with Herricks, where she serves as a leader of the young squad.

"I'd say about a third of our team includes athletes who've never competed before. And she has a mothering, calming effect on them,'' Herricks coach Paige Cullen said. "She really just encourages them to be the best they can be.''

This season, Honey is attempting to follow her own advice. Possibly, all the way to the record books.