She has already set Rogers’ diving records. The sophomore is the favorite to finish first at state

Heather Hopkins likes to make things hard on herself.

After making high school diving look easy — setting a Rogers High School pool record as a freshman, and a school record this season as a sophomore — Hopkins is ratcheting up the degree of difficulty on an already ambitious repertoire.

“To have a ninth grader walk in doing a hard list of dives in a quality way is rare,” said Rams coach Katie Longto, who is in her fifth season of coaching high school divers. “But Heather is fearless, has a great work ethic. She’s coachable, she’ll make corrections.”

Hopkins’ tougher dives include a front two-and-a-half, a reverse one-and-a-half and an inward one-and-a-half. Last season, she did a lot of her dives into a tuck position. This year she’s changing many to a more difficult pike position.

“When I try a new dive, I spend a lot of time on the fundamentals of it,” said Hopkins, who competes for Pacific Northwest Diving away from the high school ranks. “At my club, they’ll put bubbles into the pool so it doesn’t hurt as much when you miss trying something new.”

“She’s not just doing new dives,” Longto said. “She’s doing them very well.”

Hopkins success is even more impressive when you realize she is a converted gymnast, who set aside that sport just three years ago after a series of back injuries. In her first high school season diving, she reached the Class 4A state meet as the only freshman among the 20 finalists and finished third with a score of 363.40.

She entered the finals in ninth place. With preliminary and semifinals scores carrying over, she needed what Longto called an “amazing” final round to rise to the third podium spot.

“I was surprised I did as well as I did during the season,” Hopkins said. “But I wasn’t surprised to get third by the time I got to state.”

Champion Kennedy Cribbs of Eastlake and runner-up Kyle Mosset of Woodinville have both graduated, leaving Hopkins as a solid favorite going into the start of the 2018 season. Her new school record of 263.60, set in a recent dual meet against Emerald Ridge, shored up her case.

“I’m excited,” she said. “My main goal is to get first at state. I like the competition. What should help me is my ability to stay calm.”

Competing at the highest level isn’t new to Hopkins, who reached USA Swimming’s Western Zone meets the last two summers and qualified for nationals both times. Year-round diving is an obvious key to her triumphs as a Ram.

“Our high school season is short and fast,” Longto said. “We start practice on Aug. 12 and our last regular season meet is Oct. 20. There just isn’t the opportunity to deepen your skills.

“Heather’s done tremendous work during the offseason. Most of the club coaches in our area are phenomenal, so it helps for her to be exposed to different ideas.”

Hopkins’ goal is to dive in college, and she knows she has to expand her horizons vertically to succeed at that level.

“In high school, all we do is the 1-meter board. In college, you’ve got to be able to dive from the 3-meter board and the platform as well,” she said.

Longto is confident Hopkins will make any needed adjustments.

“She absolutely will have the opportunity to dive at any collegiate level,” Longto said. “She’s easy to coach. She values being a good teammate. She’s fun, makes practices more enjoyable. She never takes anything for granted, doesn’t walk into a meet assuming she’s the best diver there.

“I can’t say enough good things about Heather.”

This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 11:11 AM.