Our History

U.S. Masters Diving was founded in 1974 by John Deininger, a former professional diver who had a vision of creating a community of and competitive organization for adults divers for life. The first National Masters Diving Championships were held in June 1974 in San Angelo, TX. Nate Holt was the first meet director. Over the past 40+ years the organization has grown os that there are now thousands of Masters divers worldwide.

Masters Diving is completely volunteer-run but is sanctioned by USA Diving. Since 1974, Masters Championship events have evolved. Now, both Spring and Summer events are included in the By-Laws,  and only Spring Championships of 2020 were canceled due to COVID-19. We are all grateful to our founders, to USA Diving, and to the countless hundreds of volunteers and financial contributors who have supported the torch for the organization.

Masters Diving Leadership Committee

Under our By-Laws of USA Diving, elections take place every two years at the Summer Championship. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 Elections were postponed to August 2021.  As a committee of USA Diving, our leaders may vote in USA Diving elections and initiatives; all active competitive adult members of USA Diving may vote for committee leadership.

2022-2024 USA Diving – Masters Committee

Heather

Heather Carrano

Chairman

Heather currently coaches part time at Carolina Diving Academy (CDA) in Huntersville, NC.  She began diving during her junior year of college at Louisiana State University following a 17-year career as a high-level gymnast.  During her time in masters diving, she has won serval medals at international masters’ competitions, including gold medals at both the 2018 and 2022 Masters Pan American Championships on platform and silver medals on both 1m and 3m, respectively.  She also was the 2014 3m FINA Masters Champion in Montreal in the women’s 35-39 age group and the bronze medalist on Platform.  Three years later, she the 2017 FINA Masters World bronze medalist on 1m in Budapest (women’s 40-44 age group.  For many years, Heather has also volunteered on several committees for USA Masters Diving.  Previously, Heather had worked as a business analyst, primarily in Finance and IT departments.  She is very passionate about diving and furthering opportunities for USA Masters Divers.  Heather can be reached at either info@mastersdiving.org or her personal email at heather@jcarrano.com; (408) 835 – 8385

ron

Ron Kontura

Vice Chair – Recording

D.Cotton Bio pic MV '19

David Cotton

Vice Chair – Rules

Ron is a long time member of US Masters. He served as Chairman for two terms - before taking the reign at Co-Chair in 2016. Currently he is the diving coach at Kenyon College in Ohio. He is consistently on the medal stand at world championships - and is one of Master Diving's biggest supporters. He currently dives in the 55-59 age group.

Reach him at ronkontura@gmail.com and phone M: 330.289.6033

A NorCal native, David was State Diving Champion for College of Marin in 1975, earning a full athletic scholarship to Pepperdine University. Competing in Springboard and Platform events for over 45 years, including a 12th place finish on 10 meter platform at USA Senior Nationals and won the Platform Gold and Springboard Silver at the World Maccabiah Games in 1985. Joining Masters Diving in 1992, he's amassed 45 National and 14 World Gold Medals. David directed Masters Diving Nationals in Honolulu in 1999 and 2004 and was Director of Diving at 2006 FINA Masters World Aquatics Championships at Stanford. A FINA-USA Certified Diving Judge, he's refereed and judged at many FINA Masters Worlds, USA Junior and Senior Nationals, High Diving events, Big10, PAC12, Mountain West College Conference Championships and CIF State High School Championships. David coaches Diving at two High Schools in Marin County, including his own. He was inducted in the Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2021. He currently serves as Vice-Chair Rules for USA Masters Diving. David has three amazing adult daughters, one grand daughter, several step-grand kids and is a Commercial Realtor and Construction consultant. Other interests include Blues music, Vintage Cars and Motorcycles, Cycling, Unicycling and Snowboarding.

mark_bio

Mark Timko

Athlete At-Large

Mark has been diving for over 39 years, starting in High School.  He started in Masters Diving post-college for 4 years at Tualatin Hills Dive Club in Beaverton OR and competed at various Masters meets on the west coast as well as  in the 1993 Masters Nationals hosted by his local club.  After taking a break from competitive diving for 15 years to start a family, Mark got back on the boards in 2011 and started training to get back to Masters National,s which finally came at the 2013 Summer Nationals at U of Michigan.  He has competed at all but one Masters Nationals since then, including the 2018 PanAm Masters Championships.  Since coming back to Masters, he has taken on the role of one of the technical meet facilitators for the National meets and is one of the admins of the USA Masters Diving Facebook page. Mark’s day job is as a Computer Engineer (chip design) for Digital Design Corporation in the Chicago suburbs for the last 21 years.  Reach him at marktimko1@gmail.com; Phone: 847-707-6110

Immediate Past Leaders 2021-2022

  • Lisa Meller- Chairman
  • Maryhelen Bronson- Vice Chair - Recording
  • Ron Kontura- Vice Chair - Rules
  • Mark Timko - Athlete-at-large

DIVE IN – BECOME A VOLUNTEER!

We rely on our community of volunteers to run the administrative side and to operate our meets. If you have even an hour to give and would like to get involved, please contact us! Our volunteers have made ALL the difference, and we invite you to join us!

MAKE A DONATION OR BECOME A SPONSOR

As a volunteer-run non-profit we appreciate all financial and in-kind support. Sponsors will have the opportunity to meet and to market to our community of adult professionals. To inquire about opportunities, or to assist in our fundraising efforts, please contact us at info@mastersdiving.org

To donate financially to Masters Dive, please contact us so that we can direct the funds with USA Diving appropriately. Checks must include ”MASTERS DIVING” in the memo.  Thank you!