As collegiate athletics become more and more competitive, it is rare to find many Division I athletes with less than a decade of experience in their sport. Virginia senior diver JB Kolod, a three-time reigning All-American, is the exception.
Until his sophomore year of high school, Kolod had aspirations of becoming an Olympic gymnast. But when his local gym shut down in 2008, he was faced with two life-changing choices – either move to Colorado and practice at its Olympic training center or give up the sport entirely. He chose the latter.
But that was far from the end of his athletic career — it was just the beginning.
The Pittsburgh native took up diving with a friend and ultimately decided to pursue the sport with the same passion and vigor as he did with gymnastics.
“I really enjoyed it a lot and wanted to keep going with it,” Kolod said.
Now seven years later, Kolod is unquestionably the best diver in program history, having racked up three All-American honors, and beginning Thursday, he’ll be looking to add a few more to his résumé.
Kolod will join junior swimmer Yannick Kaeser as the only two representatives of the Virginia men’s swimming and diving team at the NCAA Championships this weekend in Iowa City, Iowa. And for Kolod, it will be his last meet in what has been an illustrious career donning the orange and blue.
The senior has set and continually reset the program’s diving records throughout his four years in Charlottesville. He recorded his best marks in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives in this season’s opening meet against Navy with scores of 390.83 and 440.70, respectively. In February at the ACC Championships, Kolod again topped his previous best in the platform dive, scoring 405.25 points to once more reset the program record.
At the NCAA Zone A Championships earlier this month, Kolod again qualified for all three diving events at the NCAA meet after placing second in both the 1- and 3-meter dives and ninth in the platform event.
While a master at all three dives, Kolod’s best work has traditionally come in the 3-meter event, where he earned Honorable Mention All-American in 2013 and was an outright All-American in 2014 after placing seventh at the NCAAs — the highest finish by a Virginia diver in program history.
“I think [the 3-meter] suits me better,” he said.
Still, Kolod has excelled in the other two events. He was an Honorable Mention All-American in the platform event last spring after placing 10th in the event at the NCAA meet, even without a regulation 10-meter podium with which to practice at the AFC.
Much of the credit for Kolod’s success can be given to the regime brought in by coach Augie Busch two seasons ago. Under former coach Mark Bernardino — who coached Kolod for two seasons — some thought that the divers did not receive the same attention as the swimmers. Whether true or not, no such stigma remains today.
“Augie and the rest of the coaching staff are really vocal about supporting diving,” Kolod said. “It definitely feels that they really value us.”
But just as important has been the addition of diving coach Jason Glorius to the staff. Glorius – the Division III diving coach of the year in 2013 at Denison University – has not just improved Kolod, but the entire diving team with his meticulous attention to detail.
This season, junior diver Carl Buergler joined Kolod with a top-eight finish at the ACC meet, while junior female diver Becca Corbett became the first female diver in program history to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
“He’s moved the needle in a positive direction with diving,” Busch said.
Virginia placed 26th at the NCAA meet last season after earning 23 points, 19 of which came from Kolod. But in 2015, even with just two competitors compared to nine a year ago, the Cavaliers have the potential to outdo last year’s results.
Kaeser, who currently holds the country’s 14th-fastest time in the 100-yard breaststroke and 10th-fastest time in the 200-yard event, seems poised to be a top contender. After placing 16th in the 200-yard breaststroke consolation final last year, Kaeser has an additional year of training under his belt and will be rested and shaved for the first time all season this weekend.
“You’ve got two confident guys that by themselves could outscore last year’s team,” Busch said. “Those guys could each score 23 points by themselves. JB is capable of multiple top-eight [finishes] and so is Yannick. That’s 40 or 50 points right there.”
But the results from this meet will mean more than just a final point total. Back in high school, Kolod helped to take Fox Chapel’s diving program to new heights. And now entering his final meet, regardless of what other accolades he receives both this weekend and in the future when he prepares for the Olympic trials, he can rest assured that he has put Virginia diving on the map.
“In hindsight, that’s the thing that I’m most proud of – seeing all the good divers that we have now, how the program has really turned around and how lucky I was to be a part of that turning point,” Kolod said.
The meet will run from Thursday to Saturday in Iowa City, Iowa.
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