Outsports Store Sports apparel, jockstraps, underwear, NFL jerseys, and books and videos for gay athletes.   Baseball Basketball NFL College F'ball Gay Games Tennis Women's Sports More   Clubhouse Discussion Board Gumby's Athlete Registry   Local Events Local Groups Local News   Community Outreach Featured Articles From The Wire Making A Difference Out Athletes Regular Columnists Jock Talk Week In Review   Locker Rooms Picture This   About Outsports Entertainment Gay Sports News Olympics Outsports in the Media   E-mail Outsports.com jock cup jockstrap underwear gay gay sports gay jocks gay pride			Diver Is Bloody but Unbowed By Thomas R. Long Special to Outsports.com Nov. 6 was the first day of the Diving Competition at Gay Games VI. The 35-39 age group flight of divers was starting on the 3-meter springboard, the second event of the day. Earlier that day, in the 1-meter springboard, the competition was white hot between T.R. Keller and Jeff Stabile, with T.R. edging Jeff out for the win by only six points. The crowd in the stands and the divers on deck were anticipating another great battle between the two in this 3-meter event. I was talking to a fellow diver on the diving well deck at the Sydney Aquatic Center, the same venue for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Jeff was going into his fourth round of six dives, the daring and difficult ?big? dives, those without restriction on the degree of difficulty as for the previous three. Having known Jeff for 12 years, I stated to my friend ?He seems to have matured, and seems so happy, and ?? With that unfinished remark, Jeff flings his entire body onto the 3-meter Dura-flex springboard while attempting a reverse 1ﾽ somersault, 2 ﾽ twists. He hits the board with the full force of his body--the legs, the torso, and the head, all at once--then crashes in a bunch into the water. Silence on deck and in the gallery! Jeff emerges from the water with a howling, "Nooooooooooo!" responding to one who asked, ?Are you OK?? Most of us knew otherwise. He had to be hurt. He dragged his bleeding and shredded carcass to the water steps at the edge of the diving well. He was carefully examined by fellow competitor and medical student, Tim Ramacciotti, and then attended to by the most professional Sydney Aquatic Center staff. ?Although I have never hit the board on reverse gainer twister before (the dive usually helps me win competitions, in fact), I was not terribly surprised that it happened,? Stabile recalled later. ?The night before I had recurring dreams that I would have problems with my hurdle on that dive. All throughout warm-ups that day I had inconsistent hurdles, and I didn't get my mind and body in sync enough before the competition was started.? The meet was stopped for 45 minutes and Jeff was taken by ambulance to Concord Hospital. He was found to have scraped and punctured both legs, and to have scalped his forehead, requiring 17 stitches. Fortunately, there was no other ?visible? damage. Incredibly, by being 15 points in the lead when the accident happened, Jeff still held onto third place for the bronze medal, despite not performing his remaining two dives, a testament to his ability. I learn later that night, he was doing well, only to find him on deck at practice the next morning, looking like he had just stepped out of a MASH unit. The word on deck? He will compete in the platform and the synchronized events on Saturday, a mere three days after leaving meat on the diving board. (My last lingering memory of Jeff's episode is the janitor stirring across the deck with a mop and bucket toward the boards and platform.) All of us on deck, the divers, the officials, the volunteers, gasp at the thought. Might there be brain damage? Surely a doctor couldn't release him to dive. But with authorization, dive he did, and quite decently, for which we were all grateful. Jeff?s performances netted a silver medal in platform event and a gold in the synchronized event (where T.R. was his partner)! Upon returning to California from Australia, I learned, that Jeff, back home in Honolulu, was re-examined and X-rayed as a precaution. A slight fracture of the left-leg fibula, on the lateral side, near the knee was revealed. But other than a dab of derma-band glue applied to his forehead across the stitching, Jeff would be OK. Jeff is just now getting back into a physically active routine, training for the upcoming Masters Diving season. He hopes earn an individual event gold in a rematch with his friend and rival, TR. I recall thinking of the legendary actor Lee Stasberg, acting coach and instructor to Marilyn Monroe, and playing Hyman Roth in ?Godfather III.? He lectures Michael Corleone about underworld crime, "This is the business we have chosen!" he labors to scold, in his wheezing halting voice. I thought, "This is the sport we have chosen, too!" Thomas R. Long is a sales and marketing executive in San Diego, and is a Masters swimmer and diver. Sydney was his fourth Gay Games. He is looking forward to competing in National and International Masters Diving meets, and plans to compete at Gay Games VI in Montreal, 2006. Photo of Jeff Stabile, seconds before his accident. By Brent Mullins / Outsports.com. Have a Gay Games story to tell? Send it to us.