Athletic Communications intern Liam Anderson sat down with graduate student
Isaac Poole . The diver has already earned NCAA Zone cuts in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events,
How did you first get into diving, and what made you stick with the sport?
When I was younger, I did gymnastics with my brother for about ten years, and we quit around the same time in middle school. In high school, a friend on the swim team told me I should join him, and since I wasn't doing a sport at the time, I thought, why not? I went to the first practice but realized I hated it after 10-15 minutes. Swimming wasn't for me. I saw some kids diving at the other end of the pool and asked my coach when I could try that. Seeing my lack of enthusiasm for swimming, he said I could go right away. I went to the diving side, which was way more fun. So, I came back the next day and stuck with it. I'm happy I made that choice.
Can you describe the feeling you get mid-air during a dive?
It's usually a mix. You can often tell right after you take off from the board if it will be good or bad. The entry matters, too, but you get a sense of it in the air. Sometimes you think, "Yes, this is going well, I just need to finish," or other times, "Oh no, I screwed the pooch on this one." But often, it feels like there's no thought at all. I do all my thinking beforehand while standing on the board, preparing and focusing on what I must do. Once I start walking down the board, though, it's like my body takes over. I've done the dives enough times that my muscle memory kicks in. It's about trusting that and not overthinking it. So when I think during a dive, it's either yes, no, or nothing.
What does a typical training day look like?
I usually get to the pool a little early, though sometimes the bus is late. We start by warming up, doing stretches, core work, and dry land activities like bouncing on the trampoline or flipping onto the whale mat. When I get on the board, I have a routine: I do a few bounces with no arm swings, some with arm swings, and then a few dives into the pool before starting the workout. What we focus on depends on where we are in the season. Sometimes, it's a bunch of dives I'll be competing with soon, while other times, it's a fundamentals day where we focus on the basics and core movements to prep for harder dives. As the season progresses, the warm-up and stretching stay the same, but the number and difficulty of dives increase.
This season, you've achieved NCAA Zone cuts in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. How do you stay mentally focused when preparing for these competitions?
It's been a journey. During my first and second years, I struggled with pressure and dealing with the expectations others had for me. People would watch me dive and tell me they thought I could do great things, which is nice to hear but can also feel overwhelming. Over the past few years, I've gotten much better at letting go of those expectations—both from others and myself. Instead of getting caught up in the pressure to perform, I've learned to embrace the sport and enjoy being with my friends. It's easy to lose yourself in a competitive mindset, focusing only on results and performance. But when I do that, I tend to perform worse. I've found that when I focus on my teammates and having fun, not overthinking the outcome, I stay in a better mental space and often perform better.
What's been your proudest moment so far in your diving career?
My proudest moment was my senior year of high school when I won state for the first time. During my sophomore and junior years, I came in second to this one athlete, and I knew I could beat him. I'd been trying for years, and it became the fiercest rivalry I've ever had. A lot of the work I put in during high school was focused on one day beating him, which wasn't the healthiest mindset. I've since grown to focus more on enjoying the sport rather than measuring my success against others. But at that state meet, when we were going dive for dive, I had a lead going into the last three dives, and I edged him out to take home the gold. When I finished my last dive, I knew I had won. After chasing that win for three years, the high was incredibly fulfilling.
What was the transition like moving from Grand Canyon University to UMBC, in terms of the team dynamics and the level of competition?
My senior year at GCU, I was wondering if I'd be doing a fifth year anywhere. I knew it wouldn't be at GCU because they didn't have a master's program in mechanical engineering, so if I continued with athletics, it would be somewhere else. When Coach Jeff recruited me, he mentioned that the competition in this conference and zone was less intense than what I was used to at Grand Canyon. I had mixed feelings about that. On one hand, I was happy because I wanted to focus more on academics—getting a master's degree is tough, and knowing I wouldn't have to dial in as much on athletics was reassuring. But on the other hand, as an athlete, you always want to surround yourself with high-level competitors to push yourself.
We worked hard during my four years at GCU but never won the conference title. UNLV beat us all four years, and I've been eager to get a championship ring. I've been told this is a strong team to make that happen, and I've seen how well they've performed in the past, so I'm excited to make it happen this year.
Coming from Washington, What's it like getting acclimated to the East Coast?
I've always been quick to adjust to new places. I don't get jet lag and handle temperature changes well. Moving from Washington state to Phoenix was a huge climate shift, and now, living on the East Coast, I've noticed that it's slightly more humid than Washington. But the rain here is the biggest adjustment. In Washington, rain is refreshing and crisp, almost revitalizing. I don't love rain, but the smell is like life when it rains in Seattle. The rain feels muggy here, and it just smells like bugs, sweat, oil, and grime. That's been the toughest thing to get used to.
On the cultural side, I'm enjoying it a lot more. I didn't get out much back home, so I've been exploring Baltimore and trying new things. It's been a blast so far, and I'm excited for the next few years.
What advice would you give to someone looking to pursue diving at a competitive level?
Diving is a unique sport because it's a constant physical and mental challenge. There are only so many sports where the mental aspect is as prominent. Every sport requires mental conditioning and coaching to think the right way about your performance, but there's also that element of fear in diving. If you make a mistake—if you get lost in the air or have a bad takeoff—when you hit the water, if you're not landing on your hands, you might land on your stomach, back, or side, and it will hurt a lot. That's not something you deal with in most other sports. So, the biggest thing about getting into diving competitively is learning to embrace that fear.
I've "smacked," as we call it, probably hundreds of times. I used to do tower diving, and in undergrad, I competed on the 10-meter platform. I've landed flat on my stomach, back, and side from 33 feet up. It hurts as badly as you'd think, but you can't let it keep you down. Sure, you might need a moment to recover and nurse the pain, but then you've got to get back up there and try again.
What are your goals for this season, personally and for the UMBC diving team? How do you plan to achieve them?
My biggest goal is to win the conference and take first place on both the one-meter and three-meter boards. Looking at the competitive landscape and past results, I know it's within reach. Winning on both boards would be a significant achievement, and I'd be proud to end my career that way.
As for the team, I'm in a unique position as a grad student among younger athletes, which gives me the chance to push them in ways they haven't been pushed before, especially coming from a more competitive conference. Even though I only have one more year of eligibility, I want to stay on as an assistant coach with Coach Fisher after this season and continue helping the team grow.
This year, I aim to elevate everyone on the team so we can all succeed together. We've got five guys and five girls, and I want to get as many of us as possible in the top five on both boards. While I want to win, I know I can help everyone else win, too.
