When senior diver Samuel Smith leapt from the second dam, he landed not just in the water, but into a collegiate diving career.
During Spring 2023, then-sophomore Smith took the Ithaca College men’s swimming and diving team by storm when he decided to go to the second dam with a couple of friends to do some jumps. He said he did a gainer flip and caught the attention of varsity divers that were there.
“That’s actually what I ended up doing off one of the little lower platforms,” Smith said. “They saw that and … I guess they had told coach [Chris] Griffin … and he approached me and asked me to join the team and you know I couldn’t say no to that.”
Griffin said he already knew of Smith because Smith lifeguarded for the team during their practices.
“I knew he was a good kid,” Griffin said. “I knew he was on the right path academically. And I was like, ‘Hey, let’s take a chance and see what this kid has. My divers saw something in him. Let’s trust their intuition and give him a shot.’”
In the past, Griffin said he has brought in multiple people with no diving experience, including former members of the college’s gymnastics team. However, he said that Smith’s story is different because he was not a varsity athlete beforehand.
Fast forward nearly two years after being recruited and Smith is now one of three divers on the men’s swimming and diving team, alongside junior Kian Long and senior Ethan Godfrey. He has made significant progress this season, setting personal-best scores in all diving events. In the Bombers’ most recent meet against Gannon University on Jan. 25, Smith took first place in the 1-meter (11 dives), 1-meter (6 dives) and 3-meter (11 dives) events. For Long, competing alongside Smith has been an inspiration.
“It definitely pushes me,” Long said. “We both have really hard lists, and we’re all sending fun dives, some hard dives, and being able to look at him do a dive and be like, ‘All right, I need to do that now.’ Or him looking me to a dive and be like, ‘Alright, I need to keep up with him.’”
Smith, an Ithaca native, grew up as a swimmer and is actively on the Ithaca College club swimming team as well as varsity diving. Griffin said he is most impressed by Smith’s ability to fully immerse himself in everything he does.
“He really is engaged in the learning process, and that means in academics, in music, in diving,” Griffin said. “He just wants to learn and have positive experiences.”
Smith is achieving similar scores to the team’s veteran divers, Long and Godfrey.
“Me and Ethan joke around with him that he’s scaring us a little bit, because we’re all super competitive, but at the same time, a really close-knit team,” Long said. “Not only do we want each other to succeed, but we also all want to win. … What he’s done this year is absolutely ridiculous.”
Griffin reinforced Long’s statement, astonished by the growth that Smith has made over his varsity diving career.
“He’s now competing with some kids who have qualified for NCAA Regionals in the past … after only two years on the boards,” Griffin said.
Griffin was right about his statement as all three male divers achieved regional cut scores at the Dick Comanzo Diving invitational Jan. 26.
Smith said the transition to the diving team has changed him as a person, as well as an athlete.“I’ve made lots of really great friends through the sport, both on the dive team but also on the swimming side, getting to know everybody,” Smith said. “It’s a great little community.”
