When freshman diver Kyle Schroeder was in eighth grade, his friends convinced him to join the swim team. He thrived in sprint events, but the mileage Schroeder was expected to swim during practice was not appealing to him, and he considered quitting the team after just one year.
One day during practice, Schroeder hopped out of the pool and told his swim coach that he was going to go try diving with his teammates at the other end of the pool. The coach was surprised, but he allowed Schroeder to move over to the diving well.
“The divers always seemed to be having fun and joking around at their practices,” Schroeder said. “It looked like more fun than what we were doing in the pool. I’d always liked jumping on the board, so I thought diving would be something I’d enjoy.”
After an impressive showing on his first day, Schroeder was asked back the next two days by the diving coach. By the conclusion of his first season with the team, Schroeder, then a high school freshman, knew that diving would be his sport.
“I had a lot of flexibility,” Schroeder said. “So twisting and tucking wasn’t too difficult for me.”
Schroeder joined a year-round club team at Eastern Michigan during his sophomore year and began training more seriously. His efforts paid off when he won the Michigan State Championships in his junior season.
“Once I joined the club team and won state, I knew I was getting into diving for the long haul,” Schroeder said. “Every practice and dive was concentrated on helping me get to the college level.”
Schroeder received recruiting calls from several different universities around the nation, but he knew that he wanted to attend Michigan.
“I have family here that I didn’t want to leave,” Schroeder said. “I really liked coach (Chris) Berg