At OHS, Nathan Baker (11) is the only diver for the school’s swim and dive team this year. While other teammates on the team swim, Baker dives from the other end of the pool.

“I wish everybody had joined dive,” Baker said, “or at least more than one person just because it gets boring whenever you’re diving up there all alone.”

Throughout swim practice, Baker spends half of his time swimming and diving to get better in both aspects.

“I practice diving for about an hour every practice,” Baker said.

A ton of work is put into Baker’s diving skills, which can cause some pressure to be put on himself while practicing or competing.

“During practice, I just focus on one thing (dive) so that I can perfect it and so I know that I have it down,” Baker said.

Since Baker focuses on certain dives, he has learned which dives are more or less fun to practice and compete with.

“I really like to do a front one-and-a-half dive,” Baker said.

Time management has become important in Baker’s diving as well.

“During practice, I usually will set a goal for the day, and then I would focus on those dives,” Baker said.

Before high school, Baker already had experience with swim and knew he wanted to continue, but later he found diving as a new option and became interested.

“Whenever I came to swim as a freshman, I wanted to start diving because I already had been swimming,” Baker said. “When I wanted to start diving, Coach Schoenfeldt got me in contact with Clayton Dive.” 

Future plans for Baker’s swim career are in process. Since he has been diving for about two years now, he hopes to continue.

“Next year as a senior, I plan to continue diving,” Baker said. “I hope that I can break a school record and make it to state.”