BTW diver Justin Toth seeks to wrap unlikely two-year ascension with a state title – Pensacola News Journal

Justin Toth has vaulted from an absolute unknown to a sensationin the world of high school competitive diving over the past two seasons.

As a junior last year, he concludedhis debut campaign witha state runner-up finish. Now,the Booker T. Washington senior is the favorite to stand at the top of the podiumat the Class 3A State Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday from the Sailfish Splash Waterpark and Aquatics Center in Stuart.

One of nine Wildcats making the trip to the Treasure Coast, Toth is the top seed in the 1-meter dive with a seed score of 496.35.

So how does he feel about being the diver to beat?

"I definitely don't really feel that much stress," hesaid. "I definitely know that there's peoplegunning for me, I was gunning for people last year. ... I don't feel a lot of pressure because I train hard, I know what I can do, I know what I can achieve. And honestly, I shouldn't really care what other people think."

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The senior spent the past week fine-tuning his mechanics on the same dives he performed at regionals, which also arethe dives he'llperformat state.

Toth, along with divecoach Randy Sanderson,fellow Wildcats state qualifiers Caleb Pereira and Alexander Brown, each headed to Gainesville on Thursday to practice at anoutdoor pool before meeting the rest of the team in Ocala later that day. Since Washington's home pool is indoors, the divers wanted to replicate the outdoor elements that Sailfish Splash may present.

Last week, Toth was nearly perfect as he was crowned the Region 1-3A diving championin Tallahassee.

There was one only blemish that day, belly-floppingon an attempted inward double. That's a dive wherethe diver's backfacesthe pool before jumping off the board and performing a double front-flip.

However, with his work ethic and short memory, necessary traits of any great athlete, Toth remains ever so confident.

"Every timeI walk on the board, in my mind I'm like, 'this is going to be the best dive I've done in my life,'" Toth said. "So, I don't like to think negative at all. Every time I step on the board, I'm thinking about the dive and every single aspect. In my mind, I'm thinking, 'this is going to be a beautiful dive.'"

That level of confidence was not immediate.

Toth had no previousdiving experience before he was discovered by Booker T. Washington swimminghead coach Whitney Voeltz as a sophomore during a Friday free-swim as part of physical-education course.

Convincing Toth to join his team the following year, Voeltz says his newdiver didn't quite grasp his ability until his second-place finish at state.

"I don't even think he realized how good he was last year," the BTW swimming coach said. "He started off doing dives and all of asudden, he gets second at state, in the state of Florida that has phenomenal divers in every class. ... I think at that point, the light went on internally and he started focusing on it.

"He's very self-driven and I think he just wants to make himself better, and in turn, he's obviously doing the job."

As spectacular as he was as a junior, Toth admits he tried to staywithin his comfortzone, performing simply the dives he enjoyeddoing. That hasn't been the case as a senior. He made it a point to challenge himself and increasethe degree of difficulty on his dives.

"I'm not going to get better unless I improve on every single aspect," he said. "So this year, I focused on the dives that I didn't like so much, now I pretty much like every single dive. I think by me doing that, I enjoy the sport even more. ... It's like it's an adrenaline rush.

"I've played a lot of sports in my life and those wereall teams sports. Except in dive, it's all up to me. Only I can better myself.In team sports, I can better myself, but the whole team has to get better as well. In dive, it's all up to me. I want to go as far as I can and the only person that can do that is me."

Pushing himself to reach his maximum potential, Toth has won virtually every meet he's competed in this season and set school records along the way.

On Saturday, there's one more event to win andculminate his meteoric rise in a sport that was foreign to him not too long ago. If Toth is to win, there's only one way he wants to do it.

"I don't want to win off someone else not having a good day," he said. "I want everyone to be on their best and be on their A-game. Let's say if second place belly-flops and then I win, that's not as satisfying I think than beating someone that's on top of their game."

Patrick Bernadeau can be reached pbernadeau@gannett.com or (850) 503-3828.

Boys: 200 medley relay (1:42.57, 11th). 400 freestyle relay (3:23.85, 17th). Alexander Brown - 1-meter dive (348.55, 14th). Max Little - 100 breaststroke (1:01.93, 13th), 200 individual medley (2:03.9, 23rd). Caleb Pereira - 1-meter dive (394.85, 10th). Logan Robinson - 100 freestyle (48.5, 6th), 200 freestyle (1:45.62, 10th). Noah Scoggins - 100 butterfly (55.2, 23rd), 100 backstroke (55.39, 15th). Justin Toth - 1-meter dive (496.35, 1st)

Girls: Sara Lypko - 200 individual medley (2:12.94, 13th), 500 freestyle (5:13.46, 8th)

Boys:Aiden Morgan - 200 individual medley (1:55.36, 2nd), 100 breaststroke (59.0, 3rd). Jameson Walker - 500 freestyle (4:56.02, 20th)

Girls: 200 medley relay (1:55.96, 14th). Jillian Beardsley (1:01.03, 17th). Trinity Devanney - 500 freestyle (5:22.49, 19th). Gabriella Freeman - 200 individual medley (2:10.88, 8th), 100 breaststroke (1:07.95). Emi Goto - 1-meter dive (372.05, 11th)

Boys: Hudson Trammel - 100 backstroke (53.34, 3rd), 100 butterfly (51.28, 3rd)

Girls: 200 medley relay (1:56.09, 16th). 400 freestyle relay (3:47.05, 11th). Landry Hadder - 200 individual medley (2:08.54, 4th), 100 backstroke (55.77, 5th). Emma Wortman - 100 yard butterfly (59.45, 19th), 100 breaststroke (1:05.02, 1st)

Boys: Braedan Jacobs - 200 freestyle (1:46.97, 16th), 500 freestyle (4:50.12, 14th). Korbin Menser - 200 individual medley (2:01.3, 12th), Korbin Menser (1:01.79, 9th)

Girls: Elise Grissom - 1-meter dive (446.9, 2nd)

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BTW diver Justin Toth seeks to wrap unlikely two-year ascension with a state title - Pensacola News Journal