Earl Bynum - On the high dive (clip)
Interviewed on April 16, 2024
Earl Bynum (EB): Probably ’69 or ’70 and I was standing outside the fence and I was talking to a girl on the inside of the fence and we were just talking and all of the sudden I was seeing her go [deep intake of breath in shock] and I heard a thump and I looked over there and the guy missed. He was a great diver. He was from Wilmington. The best Black diver I ever seen in my life. Triple Gainer, Three and a Half Backwards, and, you know, somehow or another he missed the board and when he missed the board and he came down on the concrete and hit his head. I think he lived for a little while but when he got to the hospital, they pronounced him that he had passed away. You know, so I’m glad I didn’t see it but I was there. I was there when that happened. It kind of put a damper because they made us take down the high dive and they made us take it down but they still kept the low dive.
Rudy Jackson (RJ): Do you remember []? He would do one and a half off the high diving board.
EB: He was built like a swimmer. He was awesome. I was kind of sad they took down the high dive because I used to love that. We didn’t have much to play with but what we had we made the best of it. That’s my little take on…
