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The 1995 NCAA Div. III Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships marked a homecoming for Liz Helstein, as Middletown, Conn., sits just a shade north of 60 miles from the 1996 alumna’s hometown of Darien.
Helstein rose to the occasion, just as she did time and time again throughout her All-American career, turning in fifth-place finishes on both boards with scores of 350.30 points (1-meter) and 404.95 points (3-meter), marking her highest-ever finishes at the national championship meet.
“Liz was phenomenal, as far as her ability to be a mechanically competent diver,” said Helstein’s diving coach Rich Blough. “She was so aesthetic, and everything she did was beautiful.”
A regular at nationals, Helstein earned five All-American certificates, tied for the eighth-most in program history in non-relay events. She dove right in as a first-year, placing 10th on the 1-meter board, and earned a pair of All-American citations as a sophomore finishing 12th and 16th on the 1- and 3-meter boards respectively.
Not only did Helstein thrive individually on the national stage, her substantial contributions helped Wooster to back-to-back top-15 finishes as a sophomore and junior.
As a senior, Helstein left her mark at the North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships, widely regarded as one of Div. III’s preeminent meets. That year Helstein won the 1-meter diving competition (395.25 points) for the fourth year in a row, becoming the first diver – male or female – in NCAC history to win on the same board all four years of her career at the conference level. Just for good measure, Helstein doubled up with her first-place honor on the 3-meter board, logging 417.63 points, to bookend her conference career with NCAC Diver-of-the-Year certificates.
In fact, Helstein never missed out on all-conference laurels during her career, going a perfect 8-for-8 in the diving events with five first-place, two second-place, and one third-place finishes at the conference championships. Her eight all-NCAC certificates trail only teammate Debbie King’s 10 for the most by a Fighting Scot in non-relay events during the NCAC era. Even more impressively, Helstein’s five first-place finishes are tied for the most in program history at the NCAC meet.
A highly sought-after diver in high school, Helstein looked at a wide variety of colleges and universities on the East Coast and in the Midwest before ultimately deciding on Wooster.
“I chose Wooster because I really enjoyed my time visiting the campus as well as my visit with the swim team and the diving coach,” said Helstein. “Wooster’s swimming and diving program was a great fit for me. I loved the campus and was very impressed by Wooster’s reputation for academic excellence.”
After graduating from the College with a bachelor’s degree in geology, Helstein went on to earn a master’s in teaching secondary science education at the University of Virginia. Then, she embarked on a teaching career and taught middle school science for six years, while also coaching diving.
Personally, Helstein is married to Jim Thomforde and they have two children – JT (12) and Ella (10) – and reside in Ithaca, N.Y. Now a homemaker, Helstein stays active by substituting at her children’s school and helping her husband with his work as the director of undergraduate ministry at Cornell University.
Helstein’s hobbies include hiking, swimming, dancing, cooking, and spending time with family and friends.