Josephine Emanuelli
Four years ago, Jenny Stein (‘18) began the diving program at Drew as the only member of the team, but she leaves behind a growing program that has expanded to include a men’s team as well. Stein has had an impressive career both as a swimmer and diver, serving as the captain of the swimming and diving teams as well as qualifying for NCAA regionals in diving twice.
Despite being an outstanding athlete and holding numerous records in swimming and diving, Stein said, “I came to Drew because I love the Civic Scholar program, they had the academics that I was interested in studying and I knew that I wanted to swim in college. I came here for an overnight when I was a senior in college and I really liked the dynamic of the team and the atmosphere that the students created at Drew.” The team helped to solidify her choice, as well as the ability to swim, but Stein has become involved with a variety of campus activities. She is heavily involved with the Civic Scholars program, working on a senior civic project to eliminate the use of the r-word (retard) and coaching a Special Olympics swim team. She also works as a lifeguard, tour guide and biology lab TA, as well as serving as the RA on the McClendon honors floor. Beyond that, Stein is also a RISE scholar and Baldwin honors scholar and is currently working on her senior thesis about how stereotypes and stigmas, particularly babyface overgeneralization, pertain to individuals with Downs Syndrome.
Stein began her diving career after being a gymnast for ten years and that translated well into diving, as she already knew how to flip. Her original plan was not to dive in college, but the summer before she started, the former swim coach called her to tell her that Drew was getting diving boards, asking her if she wanted to begin the diving program. She accepted, and up until this past season she was the only diver on the team.
Since her freshman year, Stein has grown as a diver, finishing 16th in the 3 meter dive and 18th in the 1 meter dive at regionals this year. “I’m happy with how I performed. Everybody who qualifies has to be of a certain caliber and so to be competing alongside them was a really cool experience and I did a lot better this year than last year, learned some new dives and ended my career on a high note,” she said.
Although Stein’s time in the pool is over, she wanted to share, “I really appreciate the support that I received from not only my friends and other athletes, but broader Drew community.”
