The best (and only!) dive club in Hampton Roads
(757) 353-5735
Our Coaches
Head Coach Keith Kopecky
Keith Kopecky is a former diver and college coach. Starting at age 10, he dove all through high school (Cleveland, Ohio) and finished his competitive career at the University of Richmond. Keith won state titles on both 1 and 3 meters in 1974 and 1975, under All-American Coach Dick Tobin.
​
​Keith began his collegiate coaching at Virginia Commonwealth University before relocating to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Every year at both schools, Keith qualified both men & women for NCAA Regional Competition. One of his female divers still holds a 3 meter pool record at Old Dominion University set in 1992 and was recently inducted into the Old Dominion University Sports Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, Keith has worked with many Olympic coaches, including:
Ron O’Brien - Ohio State
Hobie Billingsly - Indiana
Dick Kimball - Michigan
Todd Sherrit - South Carolina
Rick Shavone - Stanford
Amy Sawyer
Amy is a former diver and current high school dive coach. Amy’s diving career started around 11 years old where she joined the University Dive Club in Cleveland, Ohio. Amy dove competitively at the U.S. Junior and Senior levels as an age-grouper. She was coached by the Cleveland State University Dive coach Jeff Arnold. Amy dove all 4 years for Westlake High School. She was a 4-time undefeated conference champion. She qualified for the state competition every year and placed 2nd her senior year in 1991. Amy attended Clarion University of Pennsylvania on a diving scholarship and was coached by Dave Hrovat. Amy finished her diving career winning both 1-meter and 3-meter at the NCAA Division II College Championships.
Amy was a 7-time diving All-American. She was also awarded the NCAA Division II Female Diver of the Year in 1995, and was also named the Female Athlete of the Year for Clarion University. Amy coached Burkwood Dive Team in Richmond, VA for 3 years after college, then went on to coach a small age group team in Chesapeake called Tidewater Dive Club for a few years before taking a break to start a family. After taking some time off to raise her children, Amy has returned to coaching. She currently coaches for Chesapeake Public Schools. Amy is an elementary teacher and lives in Chesapeake with her husband Will. They are a blended family with 5 children and 2 dogs.
Stephanie Kerkeles Dale
As a diver: Stephanie dove from age 6 to 22. She began her career at Santa Clara Diving Club, then moved to Stanford Diving Club, and then accepted a full scholarship to Fordham University (Division 1 diving) in New York. Throughout her career, she competed at several USA Diving National Championships, high school sectional championships, and college conference championships.
As a coach: Stephanie didn’t come from a gymnastics background, so, she had to learn all the fundamentals from the start and take her time building, which meant she made a lot of mistakes along the way and had to learn what worked and what didn't. Now, she loves to share this knowledge with those in the sport of diving.
​
In college Stephanie coached the New York Dive Club alongside Head Coach Zhihua Hu all 4 years, coaching kids aged 5-18 of all skill levels. Most of those kids went on to accept scholarships at division 1 schools. She was also the head diving coach at Larchmont Yacht Club for two summers
(a summer league) in 2017 and 2018 and was recognized with an award for her team's accomplishment of going undefeated in the 2017 season.
​
Diving for Stephanie was never only about the physical and tactical skills you need to develop, but also the mental ones. She had to work through several mental blocks throughout her career and now loves to coach young and college athletes on how to work through their own.