Hanover
Renshaw, 15, placed second in his age group on May 21 at the AAU New England Championships at UMass-Dartmouth, earning a spot in this July’s National Championship meet in Huntersville, N.C.
Competing on the one-meter board and in the 16-17 age group because he turns 16 in September, Renshaw was bettered only by Jordi Boulerice, of Boston-based Infinite Diving, who turns 17 this year.
Judges were impressed by Renshaw’s seamless execution of his five voluntary (easier) dives, performing his front, back, reverse and inward dives in the pike position, his body bent at the waist and chest parallel to his thighs.
Renshaw’s final voluntary dive was a back-facing, single somersault 1½ twist that coach Chris Hamilton feels he “babied” compared to the way he carries through in practice.
Renshaw’s performance list continued with five optional (more technically difficult) dives, all of which included at least 1½ somersaults. They alternated between the pike and tuck positions, the latter marked by the diver being bunched up with hands on shins.
“I wasn’t that surprised I placed second, but I was definitely pleased,” said Renshaw, who won his first NHIAA Division II diving title in February. “I actually didn’t realize it meant (qualifying for Nationals), but I’m really excited about it.”
Renshaw — whose father, Carl, dove at NCAA Division III Carleton College in Minnesota — since fifth grade has trained with the Hamilton-led Upper Valley Diving club.
Hamilton, who doubles as Dartmouth College’s coach, noticed a shift in his pupil’s approach during an AAU meet at Harvard University two years ago.
“I think it flipped a switch for him where he entered a new threshold in his commitment,” Hamilton said. “I think he saw all of the other kids competing and thought, ‘OK, I can beat these guys, but I’ve got to work for it.’”
To do that, Renshaw needed to curb his fear of smacking the water at awkward angles, a common source of timidity for aspiring divers.
“I actually probably smack the water more now than when I first started because I’m diving so much more,” Renshaw said. “It’s uncomfortable, but it’s worth it because I can tell I’m getting better.”
That progress showed at the NHIAA D-II title meet at the University of New Hampshire, when Renshaw scored more than 51 points higher than 2016 champion Jonathan Furlong, a senior from Derry. Renshaw, who placed second at States as a freshman, beat this year’s runner up, Windham freshman Cameron Rogers, by about 40½ points.
A bit shy, Renshaw allows himself to mingle with competitors during meets, though he refrains from intently observing their performances.
“It’s kind of part of my strategy. You don’t want to be watching all of the other divers compete because if they hit a dive, you don’t want it to make you afraid you’re going to do worse for the judges. You just kind of want to stay in your own zone.”
Hamilton, who’s coached the Big Green for 18 years, has been impressed with Renshaw’s focus.
“You could say diving is 90 percent mental and 10 percent athleticism,” Hamilton said. “Once Kai stopped worrying about smacking, he really started to figure out the mental side of diving. It’s been fun to watch him become so much more effective.”
The venue for the AAU National Championship meet is outdoors, potentially adding weathher-related factors on top of the need to adjust to the reflection of the sky in the water.
Renshaw has never competed outdoors, though he’s dived in the pools at Storrs Pond Recreation Area.
“If the sky is blue and the water’s blue, it can kind of mess up your visual cues,” Hamilton said. “One way to compensate is to use the board as your cue.”
After school lets out next month, Renshaw will attend a pair of camps to help prepare for nationals. The first, at the University of Texas, lasts a week and will subject Renshaw to eight hours of training per day with Division I coaches from an array of universities. He’ll then spend the bulk of July training at the University of Utah. Nationals are scheduled for July 22-28.
“Utah will be more like my practices, but every day instead of three times per week,” said Hamilton. “I used to coach at the one at Texas. There are a lot of great coaches there he’ll be able to work with, guys from places like Duke and Texas A&M.”
Renshaw is keeping his own expectations for Nationals moderate, though it doesn’t appear he’ll be overwhelmed by the stage.
“It’s all about just getting better and adding dives over the next couple of months,” Renshaw said. “I want to get as high of a score as I can.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.