At the peak of his career in 1987, LSUdiving coach Doug Shaffer seemed to have all the talent necessaryto compete in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea.
    During summer competitions of 1987,Shaffer defeated Olympic champion Greg Louganis five times. Shaffersaid competing against
    Louganis, who he had been teammates withsince 1978, never fazed him.
    ”For a long time, the diving masses, Ibelieved, felt that Greg was unbeatable,” Shaffer said. “I neverbelieved that. I dove with him a long time. I was good friends withhim, but I never felt that he was unbeatable.”
    Shaffer said many divers did not like todive in order after Louganis, but he thrived on it.
    ”I loved to follow Greg because I knewhe was a great diver,” Shaffer said. “I always felt I could followhim, jump as high, spin as well and get into the water aswell.”
    A few months after the competitions,Shaffer’s Olympic dreams took a plunge as a torn ligament in hislower back ended his career as a diver.
    ”Overtraining probably triggered it dueto my competitive nature and work ethic,” Shaffer said.
    After retiring from competition, Shaffersaid he wanted to pursue his dream of competing at the Olympics asa coach.
    ”I always had a goal and an aspirationto be an Olympian,” Shaffer said. “My athletic opportunity has longgone past. I had an opportunity professionally, but I would stilllike to have the opportunity at the coaching level.”
    Shaffer started coaching the UnitedStates in international competitions starting in 1989. Soon after,he began a tenure at the University of Minnesota, lasting from 1989to 1996 where he coached 11 Big Ten champions.
    While taking a hiatus from the collegescene, Shaffer got the opportunity to serve as a competitionmanager for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He said theexperience of the event was electrifying.
    ”You know what it’s like when the hairstands up on the back of your neck, when there’s a lot of lightningand electricity in the air,” Shaffer said. “Double that. Put thatin front of 15 to 20,000 fans. It’s real exciting.”
    Shaffer returned to coaching in2002.
    Shaffer also has connections to thisyear’s Olympics in Athens. Prior to his stint at LSU, Shaffer wasrecruited to the High Performance Center in Sheffield, England forsix months coaching the English Olympic team. He said working withLeon Taylor and Peter Waterfield, who earned the silver medal inthe men’s platform synchronized diving event in Athens, was anhonor.
    American divers have failed to have thesame success thus far, earning no medals. Shaffer said U.S. diversshould have fared much better.
    ”We had enough talent at the OlympicGames to be doing better than we are,” Shaffer said. “We’ve hadsome weird things happen and I’m not going to make any excuses butat the same time, we need to go into the Olympic Games being morecompetitive ahead of time.”
    Shaffer said he hopes to send some LSUdivers to compete on the U.S. Olympic team some day. He said manydivers on the Tigers’ roster could make a bid for the team at theOlympic trials in the future with the proper training.
    Lady Tigers diver Haley Saucier said shehopes to make a bid for the Olympics in the future. The sophomoresaid she is focused on
    NCAA competition currently but knowsShaffer can help her achieve a high level of competition.
    ”This summer I thought [the Olympics]are not too far away for me,” Saucier said. “It’s really awesomediving for Doug because I know it’s going to make me the best I canbe.”