MORGANTOWN — Olympian diver Carson Tyler spent most of his summers as a kid taking tennis lessons. After one of his lessons, Tyler needed to cool off from the hot Georgia sun, and he saw people doing flips and turns off the diving board at the pool across from the court.
Tyler was interested and went over to watch.
“That looks really cool,” Tyler said.
After watching the practice, someone came over and asked him to try it, and from there, Tyler left tennis behind and found his new passion.
“Ever since then, I never stopped,” Tyler said.
From that point, Tyler has competed in diving in multiple world-level events, including finishing fourth in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. On top of the Olympic appearance, the 21-year-old is a three-time national champion for Team USA, and competing for Indiana University, he’s finished first five times at the NCAA Championships.
Tyler is one of the best divers in the United States.
This weekend at Peak Health Aquatic Center in Morgantown, Tyler is competing for Team USA in the American Cup, facing some of the best in the United States, along with countries such as South Korea, Japan, Australia and Egypt.
Tyler thought the aquatic center was “amazing.” He’s only been to West Virginia twice and hasn’t had the opportunity to explore much, but he hopes to do so after the competition concludes.
“It’s really cool that they have this,” Tyler said. “It’s kind of like in the middle of nowhere, and it’s a beautiful view out there. It’s a really great aquatic center.”
The competition is a preparation for the World Championships and future Olympic events, and Tyler said the American Cup in Morgantown is very similar to those types of events.
“The judges are the same we have at like a World Championships, from that aspect,” Tyler said. “The same competitors. It’s a little different from a collegiate level, so it’s just cool to be able to compete against other countries. [The judges] are a little more critical than at the collegiate level.”
There was some pressure on Tyler, being the only Olympian in the competition, but he’s learned to deal with the pressure and fear that comes with diving. When he was younger, Tyler had mental blocks from fear on the harder dives, but one of his friends, who was a world-level trampolinist, helped him overcome the pressure and fear.
“He told me something that just clicked,” Tyler said. “ He said, ‘Just don’t think about it, just do it.’ Ever since then, I kind of kept that mentality. That’s what really flipped the switch for me. It sounds simple.”
Tyler said fear plays into his love of the sport and what’s kept him competing for so long.
“My favorite thing about it is the adrenaline rush because it’s scary,” Tyler said. “There’s a bit of fear, but once you overcome that, the rush just feels amazing.”
Thursday morning, Tyler participated in the 3-meter prelims for the finals on Saturday. Tyler dove in the first event of the day, which was the three-meter dive off the diving board. He posted a couple of good scores with a big first dive of 71.40, which was the highest score in the first round.
One of his dives on Thursday was his favorite to execute, the gainer twist. The selection from Thursday was a test for the finals. He plans on switching some dives out for more difficult ones, but the prelims were a good practice. Tyler hopes to ride the momentum from Thursday into the finals.
“It wasn’t all the details, so there’s definitely some stuff to improve on,” Tyler said. “But, it’s a good tune-up moving into the final… It’s a good momentum builder.”
