By Gillian Rees – News Editor

Every Jonathan Law athlete strives to break a school record, and for senior boys swim and dive captain Luke Morris, that dream recently became a reality. On March 4, Morris broke the six-dive record that had stood since 1986. Advocate New Editor Gillian Rees interviews Morris about his accomplishment.

GR: How did it feel when you beat the record?

LM: I was honestly very surprised when I beat the record. After I finished my dives, I was recapping how I did with Coach Lui, and when he went over to check my score he immediately looked at the record board and then ran back to me. So it was very exciting.

GR: How much work and practice did it take to get to where you are now?

LM: It took a lot of work to be where I am now. I only started diving after sophomore year, and I have been practicing a lot with my club team during the off-season. I learn a lot of my dives with my club team, but then I work on them a lot during the season so that they are consistent. Last season I competed very basic dives, but I was able to learn harder dives this season which helped.

GR: Were you trying to beat this specific record?

LM: For diving, there are two records, one for six dives and one for 11 dives. During the regular season, only six dives are performed at meets, so I have been working toward that record for a while. Now that the regular season is over, I am working to get the 11 dive record at SCCs, since 11 dives are only performed at championship meets.

GR: Do you plan to go further with swim/dive after high school?

LM: I have been thinking about walking on as a diver in college, and I think I will try to because I enjoy it a lot and I want to continue to improve.

GR: What do you use as motivation to work hard at practice or on your own?

LM: I am always working to improve my diving, because there are always things that you can fix or build on. Every day before practice I decide what I want to focus on based on how I performed at a previous meet or how good I am at the dive. Sometimes, when I get comfortable enough with a dive, I decide to build off of it and learn a harder dive, that way I can get more points at meets and improve my scores.