Nicholas Shen is Long Island's leading diver at state championships

Two things never seem to evade Nicholas Shen on the diving board — nerves and results. 

It was the fourth appearance in the state championships for the Great Neck South junior diver, and if you think that means the nerves have subsided, think again.

“They never go away,” Shen said. “They are always there. It’s just a part of diving that you get used to.”

But once again, Shen pushed those feelings to the side and performed better than he did the previous year at the boys diving state championships at the Nassau Aquatic Center on Friday. The junior placed fifth with a score of 480.45 over 11 dives, the best of any Long Island diver.

“I thought I did pretty good today,” he said. “I was a little nervous in the beginning, I didn’t want to get cut. I was looking at the scores and doubting if I would make it or not, but I’m just really happy my dives were pretty good overall.”

Alex Kenyon, of Bloomfield, won with a 515.45.

It’s been a special year for Shen, who won his third Nassau County diving championship in county-record fashion with a 580.35 Feb. 5. He surpassed Moustafa Ibrahim’s 567.35, set in 2015 for Bellmore-Merrick.

With all of Shen’s success, Great Neck South coach Jim Morrow has his suspicions about how nervous the diver really gets. But Morrow certainly doesn’t question how Shen can handle and channel any nerves.

“He claimed he was nervous, but he didn’t look nervous, he didn’t sound nervous,” Morrow said. “Each year he just gets better and better.”

Shen was one of five Long Island divers to reach the final stages and complete all 11 dives. Youssef Ibrahim, a senior competing for Bellmore-Merrick, placed ninth with a 442.50.

“That’s huge for me,” Ibrahim said, the younger brother of Moustafa. “Last year I took 11th, so that was kind of my goal for this year. I wanted to finish top 10 and I came in and got it done. I was proud of myself.”

Garden City’s Cameron Yuen finished 13th (430.20), West Islip’s Kevin Nelson finished 14th (427.50) and Huntington-Harborfields’ Alex Zhang finished 16th (425.50).

Ibrahim recalls diving against Shen before the two reached high school, and the friendly competition has motivated each of them.

“We’d be 12 years old going at it (in club meets) and just to be competing with somebody like that for so many years, we build a relationship and it definitely was nice to have him here with me in my last meet.”

And he sees bright things for Shen.

“Honestly, that kid is on the right pace and he has potential to break his record again — my brother’s record — and he’s going to do something,” Ibrahim said. “He has a lot of potential.”