Diving since age 5, senior and two-time Class 5A State Diving Champion Bryce Klein heads to SMU next fall - Photo courtesy of BluDoor Studios
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Bryce Klein Dives Into the Record Books
By Greg Ford, Contributing Writer
During Southlake Carroll diver During Southlake Carroll diver Bryce Klein’s freshman season, hebrand diving coach Carolyn Hyrorchuk mapped out a set of goals for him for thebrnext four years.
He planned to set a new cumulative-point record at a state meet –brthe record of 593.6 was set in 2008 by The Woodlands' Drew Livingston, nowbrdiving for the University of Texas.
“I had watched Drew dive at the club level my whole life,” saysbrKlein, now a senior. “I had seen how dominant he was. I remember thinking thatbrwas a nice goal, but I definitely wasn't good at believing that it would happenbr— but she was. This year, we sat down and went through all the goals, and thebronly one we hadn't met yet was breaking that state record.”
At the February state meet, Klein, set to dive for SMU next year,brhit the water on his last dive. By the time he surfaced, his last high-schoolbrgoal had been acheived.
“It was in the back of my head, and I tried my best for thosebrlast three dives,” Klein says. “When I did my last one, and the point totalbrcame up, I was incredibly relieved, and also, of course, happy. I was mostbrhappy that I had won the meet itself.”
Indeed, not only had Klein established a new state point-totalbrrecord of 622.05, he literally and figuratively blew Livingston's mark out ofbrthe water (28.45 diference) as he captured his second individual Class-5A statebrdiving title. His record breaking pointbrtotal also played a huge role in the boys swimming and diving team thirdbrconsecutive state crown.
Those accomplishments are just a small part of Klein's impressivebrathletic resume, one that includes district, regional, national andbrinternational titles.
His career began at the age of 5, when Klein decided to take upbrdiving, in part because his mother, Krista —a former NCAA champion at SMU —brcoached the local club team, GC Divers.
“She didn't force me to do it. I just figured I was at the poolbrand might as well do it anyway. It was on from there,” Klein says.
He adds, “I've always been competitive, and as soon as the meetsbrstarted, it inspired me to work harder and harder as the years went on.”
That effort and intensity paid off when a 10-year-old Klein wonbrthe 11-and-under bracket at a national meet. That victory qualified him forbrinternational competition in Calgary, where he faced off against divers frombrthe United States, Canada and Mexico.
Klein won that too, but not before learning a valuable lessonbrfrom his mom, who was also his coach at the time.
He'd had a rather tough first day of competition.
“I was trying to take all my practice and get to the meet andbrthen do something greater,” Klein recalls. “In trying to do my very best, Ibrended up making silly mistakes that I didn't usually make. She told me to divebrlike it was practice, let everything flow and to do what I prepared myself for.brI ended up exceeding how well I could dive, because I was trusting preparationbrinstead of trying to push the limits.”
It's a lesson Klein says he tried to use at future meets.
“Competing in that setting and winning really helped me in thebrinternational competitions I've had since then. It's all been built on that,”brhe says.
Another thing Klein has grappled with during his career is thebranxiety many feel about certain dives. That apprehension can occur whether onebris doing a multiple-flip dive from a 1-meter board or diving from a 10-meterbr(over 32 feet) platform.
“A lot of times in my career — this is true with a lot of diversbr— you get to the point where you are really afraid of a dive, and you get upbrthere doubting yourself,” Klein says. “You get weeks, maybe even a month, wherebryou have a mental block. Keeping with your training, and finally breakingbrthrough that, translates to life in general. If I had quit the first time I hadbra mental block, I would have stopped diving at age 8 and none of this wouldbrhave happened.”
That wouldn't have been good news for Hryorhcuk, who has knownbrKlein since he was a youngster and taught him during the fifth and sixthbrgrades. When he showed up at Carroll, Hryorchuk says she was “elated” that hebrwanted to be part of her team.
“He's not only dedicatedbrto the athletic part, but also to his academics,” the coach says.
Athletically, Hryorchuk said, Klein is an “upper echelon”brcompetitor because of his talent, willingness to listen and make correctionsbrand ability to set goals and acheive them — including the new state point-totalbrrecord, of course.
“For an athlete to obtain that goal is phenomenal,” Hyrorchukbrsaid.
However, before doing all that, Klein had to make the adjustmentbrto high school competition.
“When you are a club diver, your teammates are divers,” he said.br“In high school, you get experience for the first time of being part of a swimbrteam as well as a diving team.”
He added, “My first year, I felt a whole new kind of pressurebrwhen I was at the state meet. I was trying to score enough points so that thebrswimming and diving teams could both win, instead of trying to do my best forbrmy dive team. I felt really, really nervous in that situation, but as the yearsbrwent on, I became more and more comfortable.”
In what might have prompted dejá vu, Klein recently got togetherbrwith a new coach, this one being SMU's Jim Stillson, and together they drew upbra list of goals for his next four years.
Stillson also coached Bryce's mother. Besides being an NCAAbrchampion, Krista Klein — she competed as Krista Wilson — was named the 1991brNCAA Diver of the Year while under Stillson's tutelege.
“SMU was the best fit forbrme. Once again, it happens to be a bonus that I have lineage there, and thebrdive coach is the same one who coached my mom, which is incredible,” BrycebrKlein says.
One of the goals he and Stillson jotted down was making the 2016brU.S. Olympic team, which will compete in Rio de Janeiro.
“It's been my goal since forever,” Klein notes.
It's also one Hryorchuk believes is well within his reach.
“I think the window is open, and I think he will be there,” shebrsays. “There are only a handful of kids where you can say, ‘That is Olympicbrmaterial.' They come around so sparsely, and he is one of those athletes youbrcan say is an Olympian because of the qualities that he possesses. You have tobrhave to the whole package, and Bryce has the package.”
Photo Credits: BluDoor Studios and Rex Teter Photography