Sophomore Salvador Good steps up to the board, exhales and prepares to dive only to step back onto the board with uncertainty.

For both members of the dive team, becoming a diver was not their original plan. Good joined swimming freshman year primarily to stay in shape for soccer season. Freshman Keyan Crawford’s introduction to swimming was as therapy for a back injury sustained during football season.

Both of their introductions to diving happened freshmen year. New to the sport, Good experienced his first fault on the board before regaining his confidence and sticking the dive.

Now, Good has a routine to stay mentally focused during a hard dive.

“Get to the edge and keep your composure,” Good said. “I count down, take a deep breath, say I’m going to do it, and then breathe out as I start my approach and do the dive.”

Both divers tried diving while on the team, and ended up sticking with it. But that was a big shift from what the rest of the team does.

“Why not try it,” Crawford asks.

Free State shares dive coach Janna Skinner with the Lions. Every other practice both dive teams switch between which school they practice at. As a result, the divers are often separated from the rest of the team.

Head coach Kent McDonald, however, assures they are a critical part of the team.

“We aren’t two teams,” McDonald said. “We are one team, but we compete in a number of different events. It’s an ongoing effort to keep this team a cohesive unit.”

Together, these two divers are responsible for securing a large portion of the team’s scores at a meet.

“The points they score at meets make a big difference on how the team finishes,” McDonald said.

As for postseason, Good and Crawford will need 11 dives at league of state-qualifying difficulty. McDonald said he is confident they can qualify for state by continuing to learn new and harder dives.

“They have certainly stepped up for the team,” McDonald said.