Double dip: Cheney High’s Alma Smith celebrates second state diving championship while eyeing No. 3

Cheney High School junior Alma Smith did it again.

Last month, Smith won a second consecutive State 3A diving championship with a total of 401.9 points.

“The difference in score between me and second place was greater than the difference in score between second and 16th place,” Smith said of his repeat win at state.

After the scoring was complete, the runner-up finished 104.55 points behind Smith. By comparison, 16th place was just 95.95 points lower than the second-place finisher.

Feeling a little under the weather, Smith focused on consistency rather than a higher degree of difficulty (DD) on his dives.

“The day of (the championships), it was very nerve-wracking because (Smith) was sick,” Cheney diving coach Brynna Janway said.

With each completed dive, Smith, 17, steadily pulled ahead of the competition, held on Feb. 15 in Federal Way.

“(Smith) had a lower DD on his dives than some of the other competitors at state, but he was (diving) so consistently well that he was outscoring everybody,” Inland Empire Diving head coach Aaron Kilfoyle said.

Generally, if a diver has clean, simple dives, he can compete against higher level competitors who throw “really massive” DD dives, according to Kilfoyle.

“I felt like I could do a little bit better (in the state meet), but considering I was sick, I was very happy with my score,” Smith said.

Smith, who also competes for Inland Empire Diving, said his advantage comes in the amount of dive time he has compared to other students.

“If they had the same amount of dive training that I did, it would definitely be a closer competition,” Smith said, citing that some schools have a harder time getting divers to a pool to train.

Though the high school dive season might be over for Smith, he has several dive club competitions lined up – not to mention his track season has begun.

“I’m hoping to make state this year in pole vaulting,” Smith said. “I missed it by just a little bit last year.”

Looking toward his senior year, Smith hopes for another first-place win in state diving. Next year potentially offers higher competition against rising-freshman Connor Carson from the Alpha Dive Club in Seattle.

“Fundamentally, Connor is (already) a Division I diver,” Kilfoyle said.

Due to this, Carson might not compete at state. Carson’s coach will sometimes encourage her high-level divers not to dive for their high schools as their technique could become sullied by the coaches, according to Kilfoyle.

Even with the possibility that Carson will not compete in state, Kilfoyle will be working with Smith to increase his dive difficulties and technique in preparation against the Seattle diver.

“At this point, it’s more about refinement of technique,” Kilfoyle said.

With these preparations, Smith is optimistic about his performance at next year’s state meet.

“I’m still hoping that I do get the threepeat.”