Meet the high school Metro Boys Swimmer/Diver of the Year: Lucas Gerten of Rosemount

Lucas Gerten has been doing flips, somersaults, tucks and twists since he was in second grade. The difference now: He lands in a swimming pool.

A Rosemount junior, Gerten got his start as a gymnast. That served as a springboard as he became the best high school diver in the state.

Gerten took up diving in seventh grade.

“The transition went smoothly because it’s a lot of the same routines,” Gerten said. “The tucks and twisting from gymnastics really helped me along the way.”

So much so that Gerten is the Star Tribune’s Metro Boys Swimmer/Diver of the Year.

Gerten won his third consecutive individual diving state title with a state-record score of 539.60 points this season, breaking the record of 532.70 set by Dan Croaston of Champlin Park in 1997 and tied by Turner Eckstrom of Red Wing in 2010.

“I knew that I had been improving all season, but that was surprising,” Gerten said. “To see it play out like that is a feeling of accomplishment.”

Gerten put himself in position to break the state mark during the preliminaries and needed 175 points on his last three dives during the finals. He nailed all three of them, scoring 182 points.

“This season ended for Lucas the way most athletes dream of, with a state championship and state record,” Rosemount coach Jake Kemna said. “Knowing the process of how he got there is nothing short of amazing.”

Gerten was the medalist in every meet on Rosemount’s schedule this winter and set the pool record in all but one of those events. Gerten also set the school record for six- (355.10) and 11-dive (568.80) scores multiple times over the season.

“Lucas is a competitor at heart and always wants to go against everyone at their best,” said Irish diving coach Dan Monaghan, a two-time state champion himself. “He had one of the best seasons I have ever seen or heard of. His poise on the board on the final dive, knowing what he was going for, was awe-inspiring.”