Of all of the memorable moments from the U.S. Olympic Trials this past weekend,  nothing packed a more powerful emotional punch than the moment when a 36-year-old diver named Troy Dumais prepared for his final dive of the competition.   He was one of the most decorated American divers in recent years and was a proud member of America’s diving teams for the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic games – and was going for the place on his fifth Olympic team- which would have been an unprecedented achievement in the history of American diving.

He had done terrifically well throughout these trials,  exceeding most people’s expectations – maybe even his own.  But by the final round of the competition,   he was in third place with no mathematical chance of sneaking into second place (even if he managed to score perfect marks) which meant that there was no possibility that he would make the 2016 Olympic team.  That meant that this particular dive would be not only his last dive of the trials-  but (almost certainly)  the last dive of his competitive career as well.

At these competitions,  divers are typically applauded as they conclude their dives – but this was a highly atypical situation.  As Dumais took his place on the board,  the audience began applauding him-  and within moments, the polite applause swelled into a massive standing ovation- a tremendous tribute to this extraordinary athlete who had been such a respected and admired force in American diving for more than two decades.   And with the crescendo of the crowd’s applause,  the emotions of the moment swelled in Dumais and the tears began to fall.  I’m sure many athletes – in a similar situation – would have done all they could do to shut out the sound of the ovation and kept themselves emotionally and mentally isolated from the moment.  But Dumais either couldn’t do that- or wouldn’t do that … which allowed him to fully embrace the love that was pouring from that audience – and from every diver and coach as well who was present.

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It was wrenching not only to see Dumais overwhelmed by his emotions,  but also to see the reaction of his mother,  who has been in the stands for so many of her son’s competitions over the decades – and surely was awash in a mix of feelings.  I’m sure his four siblings,  who were in the stands as well,  had to have been similarly moved.

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As if all of that wasn’t dramatic enough,  Dumais still had to do his final dive –  and one had to wonder if all of the emotions of the moment would cause him to falter badly.  In fact,  I wouldn’t have been completely surprised if he had decided to forego that last dive altogether.   I think most of us – if suddenly thrust into such a high-charged scenario – would have found it impossible to proceed.

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But Dumais has been diving since he was a youngster (coming from a family of competitive divers and swimmers) and there was no way he wasn’t going to complete his journey.  TV commentator Cynthia Potter,  her voice cracking with emotion,  called him “a Warrior” – and it was with that spirit that he somehow centered and calmed himself and delivered the final dive of his competitive career.

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I still don’t know how Dumais managed to deliver this dive as emphatically as he did,  but I suppose part of what competitive divers learn how to do so well is to control and channel their emotions- in order to execute these intricate dives with such precision and polish.  At any rate,  the dive was beautiful – was rewarded with fine marks – and the crowd went wild with admiration and love for this inspiring athlete.  And it was neat to see the warmth exchanged between Dumais and his younger competitors,  including the diver who ultimately won these Trials,  Kristian Ipsen,  with whom Dumais won the bronze medal in synchronized springboard at the most recent Olympics.   When Dumais made the first of his four Olympic teams,  Ipsen was only three years old-  so they are from two different generations of divers yet close friends and colleagues all the same.  “He’s the most amazing athlete I’ve ever met,” said Ipsen.

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I thought it was interesting that in the interview he did a few minutes later,  he was asked about what he would remember most fondly from his career-  and then the sportscaster sort of answered the question herself by prompting him with “the bronze medal?” as though that had to be the answer.   Dumais seemed almost amused by the wording of the inquiry and said that the medal itself was great (“everybody wants one”) but that  it was the effort to reach it that was actually the best part – and making that effort with teammates and friends behind him.    It brought to mind something said in a 2008 Morning Show interview that I replayed this morning with W. Hodding Carter,  a talented collegiate swimmer back in the 70’s and 80’s who made an astonishing attempt at the age of 44 to make the U.S. swim team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  He didn’t manage to achieve his goal but he came much closer than anybody could have possibly expected.    At one point in his memoir Off the Deep End he writes about the moment in his earlier competitive days when he finally made a whole-hearted commitment to being the best swimmer he could possibly be.   He says:  “I loved the feeling of no longer having any excuses – knowing that I was giving something my all.  These days,  there is only one thing that I habitually miss in my life and it is those days, my fellow swimmers,  and that particular feeling of Unrestrained Effort.”   Those are powerful words that have great applicability to fields of endeavor beyond athletics,  and I’m sure Troy Dumais can relate to them.   I strongly suspect that the tears that he shed up on that diving board were at least in part from the pain of closing that particular chapter of his life and relinquishing the supreme effort he has given to diving for so many years.

But they were also the tears that we all tend to shed when we suddenly realize just how loved we are- and how much we matter to someone else.  (Dumais later said in a press conference,  “I was there as a competitor-  but also as a friend and a family member.”)   Those are the kind of realizations that tend not to happen with such force until one is more in the twilight …. whether in the twilight of one’s professional career or personal life.  One of the reasons I was making a point of watching the Olympic Trials in the first place was because a young friend of my brother Steve was competing in the platform event and actually made it to the finals.  This young man, Jordan Windle – adopted from Cambodia not long before Steve and Scott adopted their son Henry –   is only 17 years old-  but did extremely well (although he didn’t quite manage to make the Olympic team.)   It was so interesting to think about the experiences of these two divers-  one right at the outset of a promising career and the other at the very end of his – and to wonder how each of them viewed the drama in which they were participating.   Much as I loathe questions like “what are you feeling?” at the end of an athletic endeavor,  this is one moment when I would have actually loved to know the answer to that well-worn question.   Then again,  we pretty much knew what Troy Dumais was feeling as he approached his final dive – and I am so glad that he was able to allow all of us to share in the emotions of that moment.   It’s what made that moment so supremely moving and unforgettable.