Gymnast-turned-diver Alex Burns continues to make a splash for Brunswick

Alex Burns made an immediate splash in her first season competing in diving for the Brunswick girls swimming and diving team last winter. With a year under her belt, now Burns is blowing away expectations in her senior season. What the converted gymnast has been able to accomplish in less than two years is nearly as impressive as the way she has gone about accomplishing them. "Most of these kids that she's competing against at the highest level, they're coming from the age-group levels of 8, 9, 10 years old," Brunswick diving coach Tim Croy said. "For her to jump in this late and be competitive this fast is really remarkable. "She keeps breaking her school records almost every time out. Overall, as she goes through the season she just keeps getting better and better." The latest example came last week when Burns broke her school record for 11 dives to win the Greater Cleveland Conference Meet with a score of 438.30. That beat Shaker Heights' Drew Watkins, the second-place finisher, by 77.55. Burns' efforts were the catalyst to the Blue Devils winning a second consecutive GCC championship, beating second-place Mentor by 22 points. A number of her swimming teammates were on hand to cheer her on despite them not competing in their portion of the event until five days later. "Winning it was really cool after being runner-up last year (to 2025 Medina graduate Ella Bohmer)," Burns said. "It was also special because a lot of my teammates came to support me. I liked having all of them there. "It was really exciting and showed me all my hard work is paying off. I want to use that momentum to keep going and see how much better I can get." The key to Burns' success has been becoming comfortable in the sport after competing for Five Star Gymnastics. "This year I had a lot more confidence coming into the season," she said. "With last year being my first year, it was a trial run to test the waters. This year, I know what I'm doing and can approach each dive and each meet with a little more confidence." That confidence is apparent in the way she prepares and the way she performs at big meets, like the GCC, the Berea Diving Invitational, which she also won, and the Ned Reeb Invitational in Columbus, where she finished fourth at an event that attracts some of the best divers in the state. At the latter event, she was first among divers who compete in the Northwest Division I District. "The confidence she has that she's becoming a better diver, you can see it in her diving," Croy said. "It's a little more aggressive. It's a lot more powerful and it's really starting to get cleaned up. She looks a lot sharper and more crisp." Don't expect Burns to start resting on her laurels now. She is continuing to add new dives to her routine in hopes of making her second consecutive state meet, where she finished 18th last year with a 266.8. The fact she always has a new skill to master is largely what drives her, much like it did in gymnastics. Some of the skills from gymnastics translate, like her favorite dive, a back twist. "I love the challenge of it," Burns said of diving. "There's always a new dive to learn and always something I can make better. I like that I'm always chasing something new." That work ethic and pursuit of greatness have allowed Burns to reach the heights she has so quickly. "First of all, like all great athletes, she has a really great work ethic that really helps her a lot," Croy said. "She's also really talented and smart. Those three things together are really why she's doing so well. "She's also really mentally tough. Diving is a really mental sport for them to do their tricks. Alex is very good at controlling that." Burns reached the state meet last season after finishing second in the Northwest District. Her next pursuit of the state meet begins in roughly a month with sectional competition. "I worked really hard last season to make it to the state meet," she said. "It showed me that my hard work does pay off and that gave me motivation and confidence to keep pushing through any hard times as I hope for success again this year. "It's really important for me to stay focused. At meets, I just need to take it one dive at a time and not look too far ahead." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.