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Dr. Mike Diamond, a former Lakeside Dragon, talked to swimmers at the SPIRE Institute on Thursday.

​HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP — When it comes to the subject of all of the school records he currently holds, former Lakeside swimmer Michael Diamond just cannot lie.

He’d like to see everyone of them broken.

Diamond, a 2007 Lakeside graduate, is serving the community he grew up with as a chiropractor at the DiSalvatore clinic in Ashtabula. 

In his time at Lakeside, he set school records in the 200-meter intermediate medley, the 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, and 100 breaststroke. He was also a part of two relay teams that have school records in tact.

After graduation, Diamond swam four years for Baldwin Wallace where he was captain.

He earned a bachelor of arts in pre-physical therapy and biology at Baldwin Wallace.

Diamond continued his education at New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls, New York, where he earned his Doctorate in Chiropractic degree.

Now back in the community he grew up in, Diamond is looking to give back by spending time talking with kids about the importance of not just swimming, but nutrition and overall health and fitness.

“Swimming is immensely beneficial,” he said prior to addressing the Lakeside swim team Thursday evening at SPIRE Institute “You’re using your whole body, you’re using all the muscles in your whole body to stay afloat and to move. I think it’s one of the best exercises you can do. Maybe you can’t swim competitively, but just getting in the water can help your cardiovascular system and your overall health. It’s not weight bearing, so people that may not be able to run or do things like that can swim.”

He also added that swimming was something people can do well into the later years of life.

Diamond himself was in the pool by the age of 4.

By 8, he was was in competition.

“At first I hated it,” he said. “We had a boat, though, and my Dad said you’re not going on the boat unless you learn how to swim. I was a triplet and we all three learned to swim at the same time.”

Both his siblings, Matthew and Marissa, also hold pool records for Lakeside.

As the children grew, swimming became something they were and more passionate about, especially with competition.

“One of the biggest memories is the first time we made zones,” he said. “Anyone that has ever swam for the YMCA knows what zones is. I made it on a relay when I was 10-years old, it was me, my brother, Gian Surbella and TJ Sandella. We were all 10 and the happiest kids in the world. We went to Indianapolis and we swam one heck of a meet, it’s something I’ll never forget.”

Something else Diamond has not forgotten is the technique that helped him to be successful. 

Though he’s been out of the pool for a few years, Diamond was eager to get back in the water and help the kids.

“Breaststroke and butterfly are the two topics we are going to cover tonight,” he said. “Breaststroke I guess you can say was my best stroke, but I swam the IM (individual medley) so I did all the strokes, so

I’ll be just showing them those two tonight.”

Diamond isn’t concerned if swimmers break his records.

“Nah,” he laughed. “I want to be an inspiration to these kids, I want to push them. I want to see them break my records, that would be really cool to help these kids get there.”

Diamond talks swimming, health, fitness, nutrition with the youth
By Mike Shaffer sports@starbeacon.com
 
Nov 18, 2016