Making A Splash: Two FCPS Students Compete in World Diving Championships in Brazil
Carter G. Woodson High School senior Nathaniel Grannis and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) senior Rem Turatbekov have gone international.
Nathaniel and Rem recently returned from the Junior World Diving Championships in Rio de Janeiro, where Nathaniel represented the U.S. and Rem dove for his birth country, Kyrgyzstan.
Rem called the experience “very eye-opening.”
“It put into scale the different levels of diving across the world and showed me that, in these competitions, mental game is more important than physical skill,” he said. “At this level, everyone is already good, so it largely comes down to mentality — a skill I need to improve.”
Nathaniel, who previously went to the 2022 Junior World Diving Championships in Montréal, said the Brazil meet was not his strongest performance, but nonetheless it was “a lot of fun, now that I know a few divers from other countries and we are catching up as friends when we see each other at a meet.”
Nathaniel, who was Team USA’s captain on the trip to Brazil, said the experience draws on one FCPS Portrait of a Graduate trait: being an ethical and global citizen.
“When I’m at these meets, I am there representing Team USA, our motto is ‘being the Gold Standard, being respectful of my country and myself,’” he said.
The two seniors, who compete closer to home for their respective high schools, are also club dive teammates, both training year-round as part of Dominion Dive Club. In between hitting the books like other high school students, they’re also hitting the boards and the gym. Both Rem and Nathaniel say a typical week includes more than 20 hours of practice between the dive well workouts and strength training.
Nathaniel, who last summer participated in the U.S. Olympic trials and aims to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles games, makes it work by tapping an off-campus waiver option from FCPS. This enables him to finish his school day by 1:20 p.m. so he can get to the pool for early afternoon practice.
“This year [I’m following] a detailed plan by the hour to keep track of time in school, at practice, homework, time in the gym, time working as well — I coach younger kids at Audrey Moore [Recreation Center], and try to maintain a healthy social life,” Nathaniel said. He remembers working with classmates to ensure he pulled his weight on a group project in class, despite having a difficult schedule.
He’s also taken summer classes and online classes through an FCPS online academy program throughout the school year to ensure he would stay on top of the credits needed to graduate. Next year he has committed to dive for Purdue University.
Rem, who has also taken summer courses to stay ahead on academic work, agrees that time management is essential for student-athletes. He says he’s grateful to teachers who are flexible with deadlines when he’s away from school at meets, and offer to provide him with material to keep him on track. He tries to capitalize on any spare minutes where he can find them, and has been seen doing calculus or chemistry work poolside in the middle of summer swim and dive competitions.
“TJ is a rigorous school, especially for upperclassmen when classes are hardest,” said Rem, who has committed to diving at Harvard University next year. “I’ve learned to finish work early, leaving the rest of the day free so I can get to sleep on time. This way, I can learn and perform best, whether in school or the pool.”
Their high school coaches credit their drive and discipline, in addition to time management.
“Rem has competed for TJ as a member of both our dive and swim team, attending States every year,” TJHSST Swim Coach Aubrey May said. “Juggling two school sports, club team practices and competitions, and a rigorous academic load shows the level of dedication and commitment Rem has for all areas of his academic and athletic life.”
Stephanie Pollack, the Woodson swim and dive coach, says she hopes Nathaniel’s experience on her team gives him “a chance to relax a little bit.”
“Dive is not a sport like tennis doubles or basketball where if one player is struggling, another person can pick up the slack,” says Pollack, who also teaches AP U.S. Government and Political Science at Woodson. “Divers are out there, on their own boards and need to pull it off all by themselves. The brain is a very powerful muscle so it’s important our divers can find ways to tap into a relaxed state because if you’re stressed out, the body won’t move how you want it to move.”
She says participation in diving and other sports actually helps teach some of the FCPS Portrait of a Graduate traits the district hopes all students will learn.
“We want our students to be goal-oriented and resilient. Truthfully, a lot of students struggle with resiliency and kind of stop when they fail,” she said. “You can’t do that at this level of athletics. If you ask Nathaniel his most significant meets, he’ll tell you the ones he didn’t win because he learned the most from those.”
Read more about the FCPS Strategic Plan 2023-2030, where Goal 2: Safe, Supported, Included and Empowered includes “student participation in extracurricular, co-curricular or leadership activities” like Rem and Nathaniel’s diving.
