Diving to the Olympics

Fall 2019 (Florida Coast Magazine) – Tristan Cavalear is a nine-year-old boy with big dreams. Nothing unusual there, many kids in the U.S. have aspirations, but this boy has something extra. He has an x-factor. It’s a quality which is rare to find, but it does exist and it’s in Jupiter, Florida on the brink of stardom balancing on the edge of a diving board. Could Tristan Cavalear be the youngest Olympic star this country has ever seen? The Florida Coast Magazine team went to North County Aquatic Complex in Jupiter to chat with the young athlete with big potential.  

Florida Coast (FC): Where were you born, how old are you, and why did you move to Jupiter, Florida?

Tristan: I was born in Chicago and I am eight, but I turn nine next week.

Tristan’s Dad (Rob): The schools are good here, and Tristan and my daughter go to Limestone Creek Elementary. We took the kids on vacation here, and they saw the water and they decided we should sell the house and move down here. Kid pressure (laughs).

FC: How did you get into diving?

Tristan: My Dad used to dive and he surprised me one day. He took me here (North County Aquatic Complex, Jupiter) and I saw everyone diving. I thought ‘hey that is cool,’ and started diving, but I didn’t know that I would be this good. I also didn’t know that it would be this scary. I have been diving for two years.

FC: Were you a good swimmer before you learned to dive?

Tristan: I barely knew how to swim when I started diving (laughs). I knew how to do back flips on the trampoline already and I tried it off the diving board and I did a backwards half flip. The next time I went on the board I tried a backflip and a half, but it was a tuck. Only two kids could do it on the diving team. I annihilated it, that was on the second day.

FC: Did that scare you?

Tristan: I wanted to stop diving but I was too good, so I just kept on doing it. Whenever I slap (make an error), I just think, I’m good–if you don’t slap now and again you don’t know what you did wrong.

FC: Who is your coach?

Tristan: My daddy. When I first started diving I had a couple of coaches, but now it’s my dad and Derek Jones, who is the head coach for the Jupiter Diving Club and also for Jupiter High School.

FC: How often do you practice?

Tristan: Every single day except for Sunday. I would practice then too, but the pool is closed. Nobody gets in.  

FC: Tell me about the competitions you have won?

Tristan: [Displays his abundance of medals] For Syncro (synchronized diving has various codes based on the height of the platform from which dives are made), the competition was against 14 and 15 year olds and I got first. At eight years old (nearly nine years old) nobody else can complete a front two and a half tuck or a back one and a half pike. No other kid my age has ever completed this dive. In this club, the only other person to complete that dive is 17.

Rob: In diving you compete in Regionals, Zones, and then Nationals. Tristan has won a lot of these comps. We have 11 National champions on our team.

FC: What is your ultimate dream, what would you like to achieve with your diving?

Tristan: I want to do Fina (“Fédération Internationale de Natation”) Diving and travel to places like Italy and China.

Rob: When he turns 12, he can join the U.S. Diving National team, where he can travel around the world and dive. That’s pre-Olympics.

Tristan: That’s my next step. My dad or Coach Derek will tour with me.

FC: That sounds expensive, do you have sponsors?

Tristan: Locally it’s Chisari Orthodontics and Marc Kruer of Singer Island, Florida and from Illinois, Liz Creekmore. I think I may need more when I travel. I really want to go to the Nationals, but it depends on if I can raise the money.

FC: Do you think you will get to the 2024 Olympics in Paris and 2028 in Los Angeles?

Tristan: That’s the big step and my ultimate goal.

Rob: He’s social media friends with Tom Daley’s coach in England. She gives Tristan advice.

FC: Rob, do you think he gets his talent from you, an ex-diver?

Rob: No. He gets it through hard work, the 10,000-hour rule. The more you practice the better you become. So he practices three or four hours a day, six days a week, and he watches a lot of diving videos.

FC: What do you do on your time off?

Tristan: I like to play basketball, play with friends, and go to the mall to buy shoes. I love Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

FC: So you are going to be one fashion-conscious, designer-wearing Olympian?

Tristan: Maybe I will get Gucci to sponsor me and I can wear a Gucci speedo (he erupts in laughter).  

At only nine years old, Tristan has already received many accolades, including 2018 FGCDA Spring Association and Florida State Championship, winning both 1 and 3 meters for ages nine and under, AAU National Champion winning silver on the 3 meter, 2018 USA Diving Zone B Championships on the 1 and 3 meter boards. He qualified to USA Diving Junior Nationals for the 11 years and under, 2019 FGCDA Spring Association Championship, winning 3-meter board for the 11 years and under group, AAU National Champion winning the gold on 1 Meter and silver on 3 Meter, 2019 USA Diving Zone B Championships, USA Diving Junior Region 3 Championships, qualifying to USA Diving Junior Nationals on 3-meter board.