The precision, flexibility, control and concentration required in diving is both physically and mentally demanding to execute properly. However, since moving from Pleasant View, Tennessee during his sophomore year, junior Caleb Crady has developed and continued his passion for diving, along with his other hobbies including marching band and running. 

“I started diving sophomore year, when I first moved here,” Crady said. “The first sport I did here was cross country because I like running and wanted to stay fit. We had a cross country pool party with all the members and my teammates and coaches saw me doing dives for fun, and the [cross country] coach said that I should try diving out.” 

Crady says that his experience with other sports, including his five years of gymnastics and his love for running, have transferred over to his diving skills. Crady averages 10-12 hours of diving practice per week along with balancing other extracurriculars such as marching band and keeping up with his academics. 

“It’s tough balancing everything and sometimes I have to sacrifice time from one thing for the other. Every minute of my life is filled with something to do,” Crady said.

Crady says that diving involves just as much mentally as it does physically, and has learned important lessons from this sport. 

“Diving has taught me that I can overcome things that I never thought I’d be able to do before,” Crady said. “It has taught me to be patient because there’s a lot of things you want to be able to do immediately, but you have to take the time to learn all the steps to it. You have to work for it and sometimes you’ll have to be honest with yourself and take a step back if you’re not doing well.” 

After high school, Crady hopes to continue his diving career into college and the professional arena.

“Diving is a chance for me to go to college, and I’m hoping for a scholarship to IUPUI. I want to dive in college and my biggest goal is [that] I want to work towards making it to the Olympics or at least the Olympic trials.” 

In order to reach his goals, Crady must utilize time and practice outside of the school season.

“Over the summer, I go to a diving camp and work towards my goal by going there, practices, running to stay fit, and eating healthy. There are still going to be bad days where you can’t hit any of your good dives or any of the skills you’re usually good at. What motivates me on a bad day are my friends in the group. Everyone on the team just really tries to push and encourage each other.” 

Crady says that he would like to improve in areas such as becoming more consistent at diving and placing at meets. At this year’s county meet, Crady placed first out of five boys. But Crady believes his greatest achievement happened at a meet against Franklin Central. 

“On January 16, I got four points away from the school record, which was pretty cool. I hope to accomplish beating it. I learned that if you put a lot of hard work into anything, it’ll pay off if you keep pushing.”