Most kids spend their summers swimming around in the pool. But for Sam, 9, and Jessica, 7, Tonole, their pool time is serious business. At the beginning of August they went down to Coral Springs, Florida to compete in the Amateur Athletic Union National competition for diving.

    The competition is divided into heats. They competed in the youngest age group, 9 and under. In Sam’s category, he competed against 16 other boys and placed sixth, while Jessica competed against 13 other girls and placed seventh.

    “I’m so proud of them,” said mom, Kelly Tonole. Kelly is both their mother and their diving coach. “It’s a proud moment for the both of them and quite an accomplishment at their young ages as well.”

    They only began diving two years ago, but have already begun to compete locally.

    “We had been going to the pool for a while.  Once I started to try it I got better so I decided to join the team,” said Sam.

    Both Jessica and Sam are also gymnasts who have  earned medals while competing.

    “I like to flip on the trampoline, so I wanted to try it in the water,” said Jessica.

     After competing in local diving meets, both siblings qualified for the AAU National Diving competition.
    “It was really hard to compete [at AAU] at first. It just felt really different from normal diving with all those people watching us,” Sam said.  “There were a lot more divers to compete against.”

     “It was scary at the beginning,” said Sam. “I didn’t think that I was going to place that high and I thought that everyone was going to be better than me. But I figured out how it worked and I felt better about it. I met a couple of people and they supported me.”

    “The camaraderie amongst all the divers was amazing,” said Kelly.

    “I made a few friends, lots of them live in Florida. Some live in New York and Texas,” said Jessica.

    “They see them during the competitions,” said Kelly.

    When competing, the top 12 get to go on to the finals, where the top eight become “All American Divers”, which means both of them can now go on to tougher competitions.

    The qualifications for U.S. diving are different from AAU.

    “Now that they are serious about it, they are ready for U.S. Diving,” said Kelly.

    “My favorite competition was my first meet, I think that was one of my best meets because I came in first place,” said Jessica.

    “One thing I really like about meets is that they usually have a theme. Like if it’s on Halloween, everyone gets to wear their costumes,” said Sam.

    They are still learning new dives and training, “My favorite is probably back flips, and back half twists,” said Sam.

    “Mine is the front double and my back twister!” said Jessica.

    They train with dry land exercises on their trampoline and off the diving board.

    “I spot them when they are learning new techniques. Rhey need to be gutsy and go for it,” Kelly said.

    They are aspiring Olympians, and may soon have to begin to look for sponsors.

    “Diving teaches you to go for it, even if you have never done it before, you just go for it!” said Sam.

    “Even if you smack [ the water], that’s alright because you get used to it and it doesn’t hurt that much. You can keep going for it and don’t give up,” said Jessica.

    There is a third sibling in the household, 5-year-old Lily

    “She has already done one dive,” said Jessica.

    But no worries, these siblings don’t compete with one another. Diving just runs in the family.