Huesman bounces back from illness into Big East
By TIM CASEY
Assistant Sports Editor
On page nine of the men's swimming and diving media guide, directly below a photograph of diver Herb Huesman, there is Huesman's short biography.
It reads: Returns for a fifth-year of eligibility after missing the 1998-99 season recovering from an injury.
Referring to Huesman's condition as an "injury" is like calling Monica Lewinksy a former Washington intern. They're both true statements but they reveal only a small fraction of the story.
The real reason Huesman did not dive during his junior season was far more serious than a sprain or a strain.
He had a tumor.
In the fall of 1998, Huesman first noticed the swelling in his ribs, just below his left breast. So he went to a doctor, who told Huesman to return if it grew.
A few weeks later, after it enlarged to about the size of a quarter, Huesman called the doctor. He was diagnosed with a tumor in September. After visiting "around eight" doctors, one month later, Huesman underwent surgery in his hometown of Cincinnati.
"It was one of the most frightening things I've been through," Huesman said. "Just the not knowing how things will go."
Not knowing how things will go. The perfect theme for Huesman's journey the past few years.
This weekend, at the Big East swimming and diving championships, Huesman placed fourth in the one-meter and fifth in the three-meter diving finals. Again, the previous sentence presents merely the facts.
Before Thursday's one-meter event, Huesman had only dove for three weeks. He hurt his shoulder during the Indiana Invitational in November and was sidelined until last month. Even in the past few weeks, Huesman had only attempted 15 dives per day (as compared to the normal load of 60-90) and the pain in his shoulder remained. But Huesman refused to miss the final conference championships of his career.
"I'm just trying to get through the weekend," Huesman said on Thursday, after the one-meter final, "without having my shoulder fall off."
Scary statement.
One day after uttering those words, on his fifth dive in the three-meter event, an inward two-and-a-half pike, Huesman jumped off the springboard and felt pain in his left shoulder.
"You know how your shoulder ends?," said Huesman, pointing to his right shoulder. "It went all the way out. It was out for a second and then it slid back in."
Even though he had dislocated his shoulder, Huesman still performed a reverse one-and-a-half with two-and-a-half twists on his sixth and final dive. It was also the last dive of his college career. Although he qualified for the NCAA zone meet in March, Huesman will undergo surgery in the next few weeks.
"If I would have had to end my career one way, this wouldn't be it," Huesman said. "But I've been lucky, I've been blessed. Probably in a week or two it will be a different feeling."
When you devote a minimum of two hours per day, five days a week to diving since you were eight years old, like Huesman has, reflections are sure to arise.
Huesman began on the one-meter and three-meter springboard while diving for the Cincinnati Stingrays club team. At age 12, he tried the 10-meter platform event for the first time. It quickly became his favorite.
"Have you been up there?," Huesman asked. "You should walk up there and look down."
For those unfamiliar with the platform, proceed to the third floor of your dorm, house or apartment complex and look out a window. Imagine 10-15 feet of water on the ground.
Now dive.
"It's fun and it's exhilarating," Huesman said. "I miss doing it."
After a few years of having his body hit the water at 35-40 miles per hour, Huesman had reconstructive surgery on his right shoulder as a junior in high school. Within months of entering Notre Dame, due to the constant injuries, Huesman retired from the platform.
He continued with the springboard events and finished sixth in the one and three-meter events at the Big East Championships as a freshman. A year later, he was fourth in both events. Huesman had two great diving coaches (Caiming Xie at Notre Dame and Charlie Casuto in Cincinnati) and continued to improve.
He spent the first couple weeks at Notre Dame for his junior year before the tumor was diagnosed. Following the surgery, in which the doctor removed part of his rib, Huesman could not walk on his own for a few days and stayed home in Cincinnati for the fall semester.
Since then, the tumor has not returned.
Huesman returned to school in January 1999 but could not resume diving until April. By the time the Big East championships rolled around last year, Huesman had regained his strength and finished fourth in both events. He also set the school-record in the three-meter during a meet against Oakland.
This year, with the shoulder injuries in November and then again on Friday night, has certainly been a struggle. But Huesman understands things could be far worse.
"You're stressing about a test and then you find something like this (the tumor) out," Huesman said. "You're just like `It's probably not such a big deal in the grand scheme of life.' It puts things in perspective for sure."
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Observer
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 19, 2001
