Diver’s Success Honors Iron Mike
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The legacy of former UK diving coach Mike Lyden endures in the lives he touched during his career in Lexington – especially in the youth divers he developed at the Kentucky Diving Club.


Exhibit A of that legacy is Rebecca Hamperian, a 16-year-old junior-to-be at Lafayette High and the defending state diving champion.

Lyden took Rebecca under his wing when she was 9 and turned her into an elite youth diver who has qualified for the national USA Diving finals every year since 2005.

Rebecca has continued that success under the guidance of Ted Hautau, Lyden’s successor at UK and the Kentucky Diving Team.

Still, merely the mention of Lyden’s name brings tears to Rebecca’s eyes. Lyden passed away in 2008 following a courageous and inspirational fight with lung cancer.

Courage and inspiration were Lyden’s watchwords -- and are embodied in Rebecca. She has overcome a broken leg and broken wrist during her career.

“I’m proud that I continued to dive even after all the injuries,” she said. “I could have given up but I didn’t.”

Those words echo Lyden’s credo. Rebecca is so dedicated to his memory, she wants a tattoo bearing his nickname – Iron Mike.

“He was like a second father to me, a real inspiration,” she said.
Said her mother Kathy: “He still remains an inspiration to her. Her victories are a tribute to Mike. His strength and his belief in her nurtured her. He meant a lot to all of us.”

As a 10-year-old, Rebecca qualified for the U.S Junior Pan Am team and competed in Florida in her first international meet.

Two years later, she was chosen to the U.S. team that competed against Great Britain in England.

In 2007 in California, she finished second in the nation in her age group in the one-meter. The next year in Florida, she won the East Nationals in the one-meter and three-meter but suffered a broken wrist in the nationals in Houston.

She qualified for the nationals last year in Georgia and qualified again this summer in Tucson, where she will compete against 18-year-olds just days after her 16th birthday.

Perhaps because of her wrist and leg injuries, Rebecca plans a career in medicine.

And she has the smarts to make the grade.

An honor roll student, she compiled a 4.375 weighted GPA both as a freshman and sophomore, taking six advanced classes.

Besides success in the classroom, Rebecca also plays piano, writes short stories and creates tie-dye shirts.

A lithe and limber 5-foot-10, Rebecca also has danced since she was 3 years old and competed for the Gotta Dance team.

That’s a busy schedule.

“She’s disciplined and a very good time manager,” her mother said. “Any time there was a free 10 minutes at school, she would do her homework. She’s a hard worker and very dedicated.”

That’s part tribute to Mike Lyden -- and at the same time it’s all Rebecca.