I think it’s important to be able to show that, not only can you play sports, but you can also get good grades while playing a sport.
During her time at Bridgewater State University, Cailey Simard, ’25, G’27 made quite a splash. She consistently broke both BSU and personal records from the diving board, putting a sport that often gets overlooked in the spotlight.
“I think sometimes people forget it’s a sport. It doesn’t get a lot of attention," Cailey said. "Being able to show that we are a team, and very good at what we do ... it’s been really cool to bring attention to it."
In her senior year, the Double Bear went undefeated in 1-meter diving and earned five victories on the 3-meter board with just one second-place finish. At the 2026 Little East Conference Championships, Cailey earned both the 1-meter and 3-meter titles, also receiving All-Little East honors in each.
She also went undefeated all four years she competed at the LEC Championships and was named Little East Conference Diver of the Year every season.
But it wasn’t just in the pool that Cailey succeeded. She worked just as hard in the classroom.
Earlier this year, she was named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
“I didn’t even know I was in the running for it, but when I saw I got it, I thought, 'This is awesome,' because I think it’s important to be able to show that, not only can you play sports, but you can also get good grades while playing a sport,” Cailey said.
While self-motivated, she credits the support of her diving coach Nicole Radanovics and professors like Dr. Karen Richardson and Dr. Misti Neutzling, who helped her succeed both in the pool and in the classroom as she worked toward earning a degree in physical education.
“I admit it was hard at the beginning because it was such a big change from high school. I think if I didn’t have [those supports], I would have felt lost,” Cailey said.
Making her BSU career even more special is that her mother, Kelly Simard, ’99, dove into the same Kelly Gymnasium pool as a member of the diving team nearly 30 years ago. Kelly was a driving factor in Cailey's decision to attend Bridgewater.
“It’s cool from a family perspective that my mom also went here and dove here, but I also knew that I wanted to go into teaching and it’s a good teaching school,” she said.
Cailey is currently enrolled in BSU’s master’s in physical education, with the goal of becoming an elementary physical education teacher and diving coach at the high school level.
Her time competing as a Bear may be ending, but she is grateful to have had the student-athlete experience.
“Being on a team actually helped me do better in school,” Cailey said. “And our coach always put school before practice. School was always a priority. I know some schools don’t do that, but Bridgewater really instilled that keeping on top of your studies makes you a better athlete.”
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