Boys swimming and diving: Hersey's Nocita hoping to finish career with state hardware

Hersey senior Nick Nocita is a diving coach's dream.

He trains hard, knows his own body and diving techniques well, and is willing to put in the work to rise above the competition. Managing varsity diving, academics, as well as commitments to music, Nocita has managed to remain successful by setting goals for himself and balancing his time wisely. As his final season draws to a close, the Mid-Suburban League will say goodbye to an athlete who has shaken boards and broken countless pool records across the MSL and beyond.

Having had eight years of gymnastics under his belt and a family member who went through the Hersey diving program as well, it was no surprise that Nocita would take to the boards with great confidence and relative ease.

Nocita has grown a lot since his freshman season, applying himself and taking his offseason training seriously. In the offseason Nocita trains with Glenbrook aquatics under coach Adam Hanhart and focuses on his technique work in order to perfect the consistency of his more challenging dives. Nocita then sets realistic goals day-to-day and focuses on applying everything he learned in the offseason into his training. Each year he has built upon his hard work, having had greater success each year at the championship events he has attended.

This year alone Nocita has remained undefeated at every dual meet and invite he has participated in, while also having had exceptional performances within the championship season. He won the MSL diving championship and was also the Glenbrook South sectional champion, qualifying himself for this weekend's IHSA state meet at New Trier. This is the fourth straight year he has qualified for state.

Nocita is seeded second in Friday's diving preliminaries, going in with an impressive sectional score of 568.25. While the competition will be fierce, both his teammates and coaching staff are confident Nocita can succeed and potentially bring home a state championship for the Huskies.

"I really draw on my all other activities to build me up," said Nocita. "I've learned a lot through music and gymnastics and I'm always setting reasonable goals. It just takes patience and it's important that I'm always working towards achieving what I've set out to do."

Huskies diving coach Tom Schwab could not understate how much of a pleasure coaching Nocita has been over the past four years.

"Nick's work ethic is unbelievably strong, he's constantly setting goals day to day, and he pushes himself extremely hard," said Schwab. "And as good as Nick is, he's only going to get better in a college program."

Off the boards Nocita is dedicated to his academics and uses his free time to pursue his love of music. He's been playing Bassoon most Saturdays at the Midwest Young Artist Conservatory for the past six years and would like to continue to practice his music if a university has the right program to develop within.

Nocita is no slouch when it comes to academics either. He had a near-perfect score on his SAT and obtained an impressive 36 on his ACT. He has a passion for environmental studies and he wants to find a university and program that will allow him to pursue all his passions. Nocita does want to continue diving for a Division-I school, and both he and his coach are confident he will soon find a program that will help him develop into a stronger athlete and student.

Nocita's work ethic sets an excellent example in the pool and outside of it, helping create a great team atmosphere among a young Hersey team.