For first-year diver Sam Zucker ’18, being at the forefront of a niche varsity sport like diving glues his schedule together. 

“It helps me with time management and efficiency, more than anything,” he said. 

While other students browse the Internet, Zucker twirls and glides gracefully through the air high above pool in the Joseph M. Linsey Sports Center before plunging into the water. 

Despite being Brandeis’ first male diver in more than a decade, Zucker said he is unfazed by the challenges that lie ahead.

It has been a year of changes for Zucker—he has settled into college, moved between states and adopted a new sport. 

“I only really started diving a year ago,” he said, noting that he is a former gymnast. 

“As soon as gymnastics season ended [after] senior year [of high school], I spent a month just learning how to dive at the University of Texas, Austin,” he explained. 

While this month-long boot camp helped him get acquainted with the diving board, Zucker says he has learned a lot of his new diving skills in his time at Brandeis over the course of his first year. 

“I’m learning new dives almost every single practice, which is fun—it gets me motivated for the next practice,” Zucker remarked. 

Zucker does falter on occasion, as can be expected of anyone adjusting to a new sport. 

What surprises him, he said, is how similar the pain from diving is to that of gymnastics.

“I never thought the water could hurt so much,” he said.

“I wake up sometimes with all these bruises that I didn’t know I had,” he continued.

Zucker compared diving pains to the gymnastics pains he already was used to. 

“In gymnastics, you’re worried about hitting metal bars, a leather pommel horse or the floor,” the diver explained. 

However, Zucker powers through the pain and is eager to build on his newly acquired skill-set, having already competed in the 1-meter dive in each of the Judges’ two competitions so far this year.

In addition, Zucker also completed the 3-meter dive at the University of Rochester Invitational this past weekend. 

His coach believes that his freshness to the sport can be utilized, he said. Zucker explained that his coach believes while most of his opposition has plateaued, he gets tangibly better each time he breaks the water’s surface. 

Even though being the only male diver does give him undivided face time with the coaches, Zucker says he cannot wait for the program to grow. He confesses that it can get lonely during long conditioning periods, but Zucker finds refuge in the camaraderie he shares with the swim team. 

“I’m really close with the swim kids; I love hanging out with them,” he said. “It’s really cool to have a set friend group and to get to know upperclassmen.” 

As he settles into a new sport on a new campus, Zucker looks to take the lessons he has learned in the pool and to apply them to the rest of his life. 

For now, however, he is focused on nailing his dives and getting used to his singular place in a niche sport among the varsity teams on the Brandeis campus.