Freshman Connor Carson started diving in fifth grade; since then, he has made a splash in the diving world, winning every meet he has been entered into, including the state championship, where he racked up 428 points, the highest point total by a freshman and the third highest total outright in MIHS history.
For him, diving is more than just high scores and medals, it’s about growth as a person and in life.
“[Diving] represents my growth as a person, and that helps me be a better person, because to do well, you have to believe in your coach, and I just think that a lot of aspects in life can be benefited from diving, and that makes it important to me,” Carson said.
When he first saw Olympic divers on TV, he didn’t even know what the sport was called. Now, half a dozen years and a state championship later, diving is a core part of who he is.
“I tried a bunch of different sports, but the biggest moment that led me to try it is I remember watching the Olympics and thinking that it was super cool and that maybe I should try it,” Carson said. “From there I stuck with it.”
Now, diving is more than just a passion for Carson – it’s a year-round commitment that requires disciplined training to improve.
“Unlike most of the people at high school state, I dive year-round with a club team, and we just do a lot of like basic [techniques], we don’t always jump [or] do the most difficult dive. We do a lot of skill-focused basics training. [In total] I train around 12 hours a week,” Carson said.
Although being a varsity athlete could be daunting to many people, Carson took this challenge and stayed dedicated throughout the season, especially at the 3A state championship.
“Winning state was definitely my proudest moment. I’ve had some other moments from club diving like making junior national finals, but my school supporting me and cheering for me winning state and then being proud was a super great moment for and I’m very proud of that,” Carson said.
Diving isn’t all about doing a clean dive and getting a high score, there’s a degree of strategy involved.
“It’s strategic, picking whether you’re gonna do easy dives and maybe aim for higher scores, [or do] hard dives and maybe not get as good scores,” Carson said.
Make sure to watch out for Carson as he continues to develop and win more titles in the years to come.
