By Savannah Watson

After being introduced to the sport of diving just one year ago, sophomore Delaney Dye has already risen to the top.

Last month, Dye won the State 2A state title in the one-meter springboard competition in Orlando.

“It felt great to win,” Dye said. “I didn’t expect to. It was a thrill.”

Dye began diving a year ago because she suffered a back injury while competing in gymnastics, which she did for 10 years.

“It was a kind of a random thing,” Dye said of her initial interest in diving. “At first, I was really bad, but then my gymnastics background played a great part in helping me.”

If it hadn’t been for the back injury, Dye said he probably wouldn’t be a state diving champ today.

“I guess you could call it a good injury,” she said.

Dye practices five times a week for two hours a day at the Morcom Aquatic Center, Florida State’s home pool. During the summer, she ups her practicing to six times per week and twice a day.

“When I first started diving I was addicted to it and I always wanted to be in the pool,” Dye said.

Dye performs 11 different dives in five categories: fronts, backs, inward, reverse and twists.

A year ago, after just beginning in the sport, the 5-foot-5, 120-pound Dye also qualified for the high school state championships and she placed ninth.

This year, much to her own surprise, the top-seeded Dye captures the state title by beating 23 other girls.

Dye said the toughest competition came from The Bolles School in Jacksonville and other schools in the south.

“The harder the dive, the more points you get,” Dye explained. “At the state competition, they score tougher. The goal before every dive is to not have a big splash and to stay consistent.”

Dye listens to her I-pod in between dives and does not concentrate on the other competitors.

“I don’t like watching other people dive before me because if they mess up then that is what I would be focusing on rather than doing my dive perfectly,” she said.

Before diving, Dye drinks water and eats fruit and nutrigrain bars. After diving, however, she fuels up on Gatorade.

Her parents have been surprised and supportive of her state title.

Although she has her sights set on earning a diving scholarship to Florida State or Auburn, Dye said she does not think she will ever be good enough to compete in the Olympics.

“The Olympics do not seem like a realistic goal for me,” Dye said. “Those divers have been doing it all their lives, that’s all they do and theyr’e home-schooled. That’s not for me.”

When she’s not diving, Dye likes to hang our with friends, go to the beach or play golf on Leon’s girls team.

Dye’s older brother, Dustin, was a standout on this year’s boys golf team.

Dye dives from as high as 10 meters, which is equivalent to three stories high.

“You get used to it,” she said. ‘I’m not afraid anymore.

“I like diving because of the adrenaline rush, and the feeling of twisting in the air while falling.”