Dumais Turns 10 at 16

After barely missing out in his attempt to make the U.S. Olympic diving team, Troy Dumais left immediately Sunday from the Indiana University Natatorium.

He was on a plane headed home within a couple of hours.

But disappointment didn’t fuel his quick exit. Fatigue did.

“I was just exhausted,” said Dumais, who will be a sophomore at Buena High in the fall. “I wanted to get home and see my brother because we always play sports and stuff on his birthday.”

Dumais’ younger brother, Dwight, turned 10 on Sunday.

Troy, who at age 16 was the youngest competitor at the trials, turned a 10, too. His 3 1/2 back somersault off the 10-meter platform was the only perfect score of the five-day competition.

“I still can’t believe what I did,” Dumais said.

The top two finishers will represent the U.S. in Atlanta beginning July 26. Dumais, who is the alternate, almost became the youngest male diver on the U.S. team since Greg Louganis qualified in 1976 at the age of 16.

Dumais left Thursday for Budapest, where he will compete in the Grand Prix, a diving contest featuring top competitors who will not be in the Olympics. On July 4 he is scheduled to continue on to Vienna for the second leg of the Grand Prix before returning home.

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Jennifer Parmenter has taken her considerable talents from Canyons Aquatics to Rose Bowl Aquatics, creating a mighty wave on the swimming seismograph.

Parmenter, who attends L.A. Baptist, recently won two Southern Section Division I championships and nearly qualified for the Olympics in the individual medley.

Canyons Coach Bruce Patmos was not thrilled with Parmenter’s move.

“You don’t spend time developing someone and then have another team reap the benefits,” he bristled.

Rose Bowl has a stronger team, better facilities--including two 50-meter pools--and its training regimen concentrates more on endurance, all prime factors in her switch, Parmenter said.

“I was always traveling by myself, training by myself [at Canyons], and it wasn’t fun anymore,” she said. “I wanted to swim with a team. It pumps you up.”

With Rose Bowl, Parmenter will practice with five national-caliber swimmers.

One of her new teammates is Heather Boylan of Saugus, who won Southern Section Division II titles in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke after making a similar switch in clubs.

“I think word is getting around that Rose Bowl is the future,” Boylan said.

Not everyone agrees.

“[Rose Bowl] believes in doing phenomenal yardage, but our intensity is much higher,” Patmos said. “Everything we do is on a tight cycle, so the kids always have to go fast. I think they enjoy that more.

“It’s worked here for seven years, so I’m pretty confident that’s the way to do it.”

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The perfect summer job for a high school swimmer?

How about working as a lifeguard at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor water park?

Thirteen area high school swimmers--including five each from Hart and from Saugus--are employed there this summer.

Becky Skyler of Hart said she came to the aide of two swimmers last week, plucking a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl from the wave pool.

Skyler, who is certified as both a shallow- and deep-water lifeguard, said it was all part of the job.

“Somebody was pointing to the boy and said he was drowning, so you press an emergency stop button and start blowing your whistle,” she said. “He was crying when I got to him, but I told him, ‘It’s OK . . . you’re still here.’ ”