| Patrick Jeffrey |
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To the other teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference, hearing about
the success of Florida State University divers might sound like a
broken record, but to diving coach Patrick Jeffrey it is music to his
ears. His divers continued their dominance in the ACC in 2003-04
and show no signs of slowing down
Since Jeffrey's arrival in 1999, Seminole divers have captured 15 of
the 20 championships on the board. Within that stretch, six
different Seminoles have claimed league titles with nine divers
named All-ACC. Florida State claimed its fourth-straight women's
Diver of the Meet Award at last year's league championships as
Tiffany Manning won both boards.
With as much as a stranglehold as Florida State divers have had
over the last five, the accomplishments of the women's team at
last year's conference meet might have even exceeded Jeffrey's
expectations. The Seminoles captured the top five spots on the
one-meter board then took first through third during the threemeter
competition.
Over the last three seasons, that success has carried over to the
national level where the Tribe is starting to make its mark. Jeffrey's
divers produced their fifth All-America award as Manning captured
fifth-place honors on the platform--the highest finish by a
Seminole at the national meet since 2001. Manning third All-
America award makes her just the third Seminole to earn the honor
in three different seasons.
During the previous year, Louis Gagnet captured the men's first All-
America honor since 1999 and the first by a diver since Paul Spray
during the 1992 season.
Four out of the five years that Jeffrey has been with Florida State it
has claimed at least one conference title on the men's side. Brent
Burkman collected the men's first diving title since 1992 when he
won the one-meter event. The following year Josh Edelman swept
both events and for the past two years Gagnet was crowned
champion on the one and three-meter boards. Florida State's fourstraight
championships on the one-meter and three more in the
three-meter haven't been equaled in nearly 20 years.
During Jeffrey's second year the women's program started
controlling the league when Chelsie Lerew won her first of five
titles. She added All-America honors to her resume in 2002 on the
one-meter board. In 2002, current senior Courtney McClow got
into the act when she won the one-meter event. The past three
seasons, Florida State has had the top three divers on the threemeter
board and top three of four in the one-meter event.
The summer of 2003 saw a pair of Seminoles have some success
at the Speedo National Diving Championships in Indianapolis, Ind.
Manning had the highest showing with a 12th-place finish on the
ten-meter platform to go along with a 13th-showing in the onemeter
event. McClow finished 18th on the one-meter. Manning
qualified for this year's US Olympic Trials, but did not compete due
to an injury.
Jeffrey's wealth of diving knowledge is a direct result of his own
career. During his time at Ohio State, he captured five national
championships in various events. At the 1988 NCAA
Championships he became the only diver in NCAA history to win
three events in the same year as he captured titles on the one-meter, three-meter and ten-meter platform events. That season he
was named the NCAA Diver of the Year.
On the international scene, Jeffrey was a finalist on the ten-meter
platform at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1996 Olympics in
Atlanta. He is a three-time U.S. National Diving Champion in the
ten-meter competition, while holding a pair of titles in the threemeter
event. In addition, he won bronze medals at the 1991 and
1995 Pan-Am games. He also competed as a member of the US's
1989 and 1995 World Cup teams as well as at the 1993 GoodwillGames.
Jeffrey's coaching experience is just as extensive as his diving
career. On a world stage he has coached the 2000 US Olympic
team along with the 1997 and 1999 Senior World Cup squads.
Most recently he mentored the 2001 US World Championships
team in Fukioka, Japan. He has served as the Senior National team
coach from 1997-2000 with a one year stint (1998) with the Junior
National Team. Under Jeffrey's tutelage, divers have won four US
Senior National titles, three Junior National championships, and a
pair of third place finishes for the Senior Men's team.
The 39-year-old Jeffrey graduate from Ohio State in 1988 with a
degree in journalism and advertising.
JEFFERY'S COACHING RESUME:
2001: US World Championship Team
2000: US Olympic Team
1999-present: Diving Coach, Florida State
1998: Junior National Team
1997: US World Cup Team
1996-present: Senior National Team
1996-99: Diving Coach, Florida Atlantic
