TEAM
Coaches
Diane Maiese - Owner and Head Coach
Diane is not only the first, but as of yet, the only black female to win an NCAA National Championship and be named four-time All-American. She is also the first black female to coach diving at the division one level and the first to become a FINA certified judge from the USA. While she is honored to be acknowledged for her accomplishments Diane would like to help change the landscape of the sport she loves and is motivated to provide accessibility to diving for everyone.
Diane is in her 32nd year of coaching diving. During her career she has coached at the University of Denver, LaSalle University, and the University of Richmond. While at LaSalle, she was named Atlantic 10 Diving
Coach of the Year five times and coached the schools first NCAA qualifier.
Diane currently is the head diving coach at Collegiate School, St. Catherine's School, St. Christopher's School, The Steward School, and Trinity Episcopal School. In her first three years with Collegiate she was named VISAA Diving Coach of the Year. During the summer, Diane is the head diving coach at the Country Club of Virginia and works with divers from JRAC teams that do not have dive teams.
Before becoming a diver, Diane was a competitive gymnast for nine years.
Diane has lived in Richmond for over 13 years. She enjoys spending time with her son, who is currently training and playing soccer overseas.
Stefanie Lapp - Junior Olympic Coach
Stefanie is in her seventh year of coaching as the assistant dive coach at Collegiate School, the Steward School, and Trinity Episcopal School and her second year as assistant coach at St. Catherine's and St. Christopher's Schools.
Stefanie is a former diver of Diane’s at the University of Richmond. She started her college athletic career as a member of the track and field team where she was a multi-event athlete before joining the dive team.
Stefanie is a current masters diver with RVA Dive Team and active CrossFit athlete and level 1 coach. Before college she was a competitive gymnast for over nine years.
Michelle Malcom - Junior Olympic Coach
Keith Burgie - Pre Team Coach
Keith
Shirley Ramsey - Pre Team Coach
Shirley Ramsey is a retired school counselor and teacher from Henrico County Public Schools. Her passion is to work with youth and help them to be the best that they can be. She holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from Virginia Tech and an MA.Ed in School Counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has been in involved in coaching diving since her first coaching position at Bon Air pool in 1973 and has been a coach in JRAC since then. She also coached at Virginia Commonwealth University from 1980 to 1986. Additionally, she was the dive coach at St. Christopher's and St. Catherine's Schools for three years. She has been involved with AAU and USA Diving assisting in setting up meets to bring these programs to Richmond.
She is a lover of the sport and brings experience as a coach, teacher, school counselor, and advocate for mental health. She serves as a Founding Board Member of the Virginia Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and does community work bringing awareness to teen depression and mental health issues.