Hobie Billingsley and a friend of mine

My friend Nancy [in the left of the picture] went to Indiana University to train with the now legendary diving coach, Hobie Billingsley, back in the early sixties. That's Hobie in the middle.  She had plans to make the 1960 or 1964 Oympic Team, but she hurt her back badly in a freak trampoline accident during training and had to give up diving.

She switched to volleyball and played on a multitude of national championship teams for years alongside her sister Patti -- herself a two time Olympic setter whose husband was also an Olympian. The athletic DNA in that family has spawned cyclists, marathon runners, and a bunch of other volleyballers. Their grandma is an amazing eighty-seven year old woman who STILL plays badminton and tennis, bowls and cycles.  I need a nap just writing about them.

Nan and more than a dozen other divers from Hobie's era made it back to IU for his 80th birthday a week or so ago. Interestingly enough I recognized the woman on the right of the picture as an anchor on a PBS news show in Chicago. Dibby went to the same high school I did, but I had no idea she also went to Indiana to dive and knew my good friend, too. Cosmic.

The reason I posted this picture is that I think Dibby doesn't look too shabby for 65. Nan's looking pretty swank for 62 herself. Just got a brand new knee too. Most women look forward to silver, gold, and diamonds as the years pass. Former jocks start dreaming about titanium knees and hips. Gotta get your bling the best way you can.