A new record has been broken! Senior Addi Berry broke the previous school diving record for most points for six dives awarded to a diver during the Senior Night swim meet against Southport.
Berry has been a swimmer and diver at Perry since her sophomore year.
“My mom told me to do it. I thought it was fun and I was pretty good at it so I stuck with it,” Berry said.
The previous record was set at 249 points by Midori Adams in 2021. Berry set the new bar with a 269.85, crushing the previous mark.
“I was getting pretty close [to beating it] at the beginning,” said Berry. “I never thought I was going to break it by that much.”
The road to breaking the record was not a simple one for Berry. Before joining the swimming and diving team, Berry had done gymnastics for six years but had to quit her freshman year after having a stress fracture in her back.
“When I had to quit, I really didn’t know what to do,” Berry said.

Not having any other sport than gymnastics, getting hurt opened up a door she never expected. She has been able to find a sense of community through dive.
“It’s really helped me talk to more people, because normally I’m pretty introverted so it has helped me expand my horizons,” Berry said.
Her goal was to break the record. Berry’s new goal is to go to state. Right now she is close to going to sectionals. This will leading to more openings to go to regionals, before a trip to the state meet at the Indiana Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis.
While Berry is enjoying her time on the swim and dive team and is staying hungry for the postseason, she has plans for after graduation. Right now her plan is not to dive during college.
“I want to go to college and major in biology and then hopefully go to grad school for pharmacology,” Berry said.
As Berry graduates she leaves big shoes to fill on the diving board. The team is looking to recruit new talent for next season.
“With enough practice anyone can do it,” said Berry. “It is just the determination to do it.”
Trying new sports can be scary, but in many cases, like Berry’s, it turns out to be something that opens new doors than thought possible. For Berry, she found a wonderful community as well as finding another sport that she excelled at. Whether it is finding a sport that is fun and you do well, or finding a community that you enjoy, trying a new sport can be very rewarding.