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Jim Bowser waited a long time for his divers from the Long Ridge Club to win the county championship. But he finally got it this summer.
Bowser's team took the Fairfield County Swimming League title with 287 points. Points are awarded based performances in four age groups on 1- and 3-meter boards. Long Ridge finished third in 2007 and 2009 and second in 2008. Sean Burston (14-and-under) and Connor Brissom (17-and-under) won both events in the boys' competition. Rachel Burston (12-and-under) captured both boards in girls diving. Unlike high school meets, when diving is included in team scores, points for diving and swimming are accrued separately.
Bowser, 52, has been Long Ridge's chairman of the boards for about 10 years. He was a diver at Westhill High School and took Class LL runner-up honors in 1976. Bowser was also a YMCA national finalist and a four-time state diving champion at Colgate University.
After college, he left the sport to focus on his career in sales and publishing. "I decided I wanted to make a little change,'' Bowser said. He left the corporate world and was between jobs when the position opened at Long Ridge.
"I heard Kurt Bittel was going to be the coach, and I knew him from my swimming days at Roxbury," Bowser said. "That sweetened the pot. I didn't want to be on a team that wasn't supported from top to bottom, and I knew Kurt wouldn't let that happen." After nearly 20 years away from the sport, Bowser dove right back in.
He now coaches full time and instructs divers with Westhill High and the Stamford Sharks. "It's totally different than the business world,'' Bowser said. "It's apples and oranges. No suits and ties, and I'm not on the road 95 percent of the time."
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