Great Neck South's Nicholas Shen wins third straight Nassau diving title
Nicholas Shen of Great Neck South springs from the board during the Nassau County boys diving championship and state qualifier at Nassau Aquatic Center in East Meadow on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Credit: James Escher
The reign of Nicholas Shen over Nassau diving continues — and he did so in record fashion.
The Great Neck South junior won the Nassau diving championship for the third-straight year, posting a score of 580.35, at the Nassau Aquatic Center at Eisenhower Park Wednesday. His score was also a county record, surpassing Moustafa Ibrahim’s mark of 567.35 set in 2015 for Bellmore-Merrick.
“I feel really proud of myself,” Shen said. “I’ve been training all this time and I was nervous at the end. At first, I calculated my score before the final [three dives] and I didn’t think I would break it because the scores I needed was really high, so I’m just surprised I broke it.”
Great Neck South coach Jim Morrow said he wasn’t sure if he should tell Shen before the final dive that he had a chance to break the record. Shen needed a 50.80 on the final dive. But Morrow told the junior diver, and Shen scored a 63.75.
“I wasn’t going to tell him because I didn’t want him to be nervous, but he’s always been cool as a cucumber,” Morrow said. “He has been all year and he’s met the challenge.”
Shen was focused on the record entering the championship and narrowed all his energy toward that when on the board for his final dive.
“I thought I had a shot in that moment, but at the same time, I was nervous,” Shen said. “Sometimes the dives can be a little unpredictable, so I was just trying to keep calm and act like it was a practice dive, like I normally do it.”
With the victory, Shen advances to the state diving championship at the Nassau Aquatic Center March 6. Youssef Ibrahim of Bellmore-Merrick placed second with a 544.55 and Cameron Yuen of Garden City finished third with a 472.30, and both also qualified for the state finals. Along with those three, Greg Meder of Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK will be competing in the state championships after posting a score greater than 450 during the year.
