HARLINGEN — Harlingen High’s Griffin Vincent methodically folded up his towel to drain it, then systematically wiped down his body while standing on the diving board.
“You were a little out on that one,” Harlingen High diving coach Yvonne Moran said.
Moran watched a television that plays back Vincent’s dives to double check what she saw as Vincent prepares for his next jump with the rising sun blasting through the windows Tuesday morning at the HCISD swimming pool.
Vincent is preparing for his most important meet to date, the UIL Class 6A state meet in Austin, where the senior is scheduled to compete in the prelims Friday with the hope of qualifying for the finals Saturday.
“It feels great to be able to qualify for state,” he said. “I got lucky enough to have a great coach to put me in this position.”
| Harlingen High’s Griffin Vincent.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey |
The tall and slim diver was once a basketball player at Harlingen High but never made it to varsity before making the switch to diving his junior year in the fall of 2021. Diving was a smooth transition because of Vincent’s background in trampolining, the senior said.
“I thought I was good at basketball,” Vincent said. “My uncle said I needed to go to diving, so I tried it out. I quit basketball, came to diving, learned the dives in a week and skyrocketed from there.”
Moran also was in Vincent’s ear throughout the past few years.
“When he was 10 years old he did a summer camp, and that was it,” Moran said. “Then I did not see him again. I would try and find his mom to get him back into diving … Every time I would see him or his mom, I was like, ‘When is Griffin coming back to the pool?’”
Even though Vincent did have a background on the trampoline, Vincent still needed to clean up technical aspects of his diving, Moran said.
“From last year to this year, he really improved a lot,” Moran said. “He did really good in San Antonio against divers that have been competing for 10 years or more.”
| Harlingen High’s Griffin Vincent.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey |
Vincent finished first in District 32-6A and was the second-best diver in the Region VIII-6A meet two weeks ago in Laredo.
The senior knows it is going to be a challenge at state. It is all about making it to the finals Saturday, he said.
“And I want to get over 400 points to break the Harlingen High School record,” he added. “I have a pretty good shot at it.”