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By Rukhshona Islamova -Sports-

Isaiah Winston is a sophomore at Lincoln High and this is his first year diving. Winston qualified for state his very first meet by scoring 322 points. I asked him some questions about his diving career so far.

When did you start diving and why? Did you have any previous experience before starting?

I actually started diving in the late summer of 2017. My sister had been doing it and the whole point of her doing it was to get a scholarship. When she would have practices her coach would always tell me that I should do it too, but I was very hesitant. I actually had no previous experience but I was into tumbling so that kind of set a base for me.

Do you think you’ll keep with it throughout high school? How about after high school?

Yes, I feel like I will keep on pushing myself to get better and steadily motivate myself more and more, because I know that I can be pretty good and it can take me somewhere. My coach believes that if I stick to it and work hard I could get a scholarship out of it.

What do you like about it?

To me diving is really peaceful. When your on the board you can’t really have a whole lot on your mind, otherwise you will end up hurt or with a bright red mark on your back. It takes all my problems away for the time being.

How often do you practice and what does it consist of?

We practice everyday as a team, which is very small. We start off with stretching and then about an hour of abs. We then start our jumps on the boards and depending on the day we do front or back dives.

What’s one of your best moments and one of your worst moments? 

One of my best moments was at my first meet that we had. I ended up doing really well and qualified for state, so I was pretty excited about that. My worst moment would be at my most recent meet, because I was going for a back somersault straight and I forgot to get my reach when leaving the board. That caused me to be really close to the board and it even caused the judges to stand up because they were so scared for me.

What are your favorite dives?

My favorite dives would probably have to be a forward 1 1/2 somersault, because I think it  looks really cool when you’re just flipping through the air and are yet somehow able to hit the water with such a little splash.

Do you play any other sports? If so, what’s your favorite of them all?

I only do one other sport and that sport is track. Personally I prefer track over diving because that’s my passion and I work really hard for the results that I receive. I always get super hype whenever someone brings it up.

Have you learned anything about yourself since you started?

The only thing that I’ve learned about myself is that I am very strong mentally and I don’t give up that easily.