Joe Rose hopes to rock the runways at Fashion Week as a famous designer.
But for now, he’s content walking the springboard as a diver for South Kitsap’s swim team.
And he’ll be taking his show to state next month for the first time — as a sophomore.
Rose said he got into diving while living on a farm in Olalla. The family that owned the property had a son, Justin Gleason, who was a diver.
“He was a state diver his senior year, and he got me into diving by coaching me for a year and a half.”
That coaching started on somewhat of a different platform.
“We started doing stuff on the trampoline and one day he brought me here for open swim and I started getting into it,” Rose said. “He told me I should join the dive team.”
Rose credits Gleason for where he is today.
“The only thing I could do when we met was a front flip,” he said. “Even then, I would under rotate. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am.”
But his initial interest came much earlier.
Around age five, he jumped off a diving board in his home state of California, and “I loved the feeling of being in the air.”
And that affinity for the sport is clear to diving coach Dennis Anderson.
“He’s got a lot of natural movement and talent,” he said. “It’s scary how good he is already after two months. He doesn’t seem to buckle under pressure. He doesn’t seem to have any fear of new dives.
“He can take what I say and make the motor-learning corrections immediately.”
Still, Rose’s qualifying for state so easily came as a surprise. His performance at an 11-dive meet earlier this month at Curtis sealed the deal.
“It’s very difficult to have that kind of poise in your first meet,” Anderson said. “He had to score higher than he ever has on the last dive to make it.”
His coach said he had been struggling with the reverse double all year, but when it really counted, “he just lined it up, spun it around, and landed it.”
Rose himself said it took a lot of hard work to get there.
“When I started getting better and doing more tricks, Mr. Anderson would always give me a thumbs up,” he said. “Then I was like, ‘I’ve got this.’ ”
Being on a young team — all of South Kitsap’s divers are in their first year — creates a team atmosphere, and they help each other.
But don’t expect to see Rose on the other side of the pool too often.
“I’m not a great swimmer, but I know how to swim,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ll do a 200 free relay.”
After all, he’s more focused on other things: gaining acclaim for his 2 1/2 forward tuck … and his double pike … and a back dive with a 2 1/2 twist ….
And his efforts have attracted attention.
“I don’t know if he’s fearless or if he doesn’t realize how hard the dives are he’s doing,” Anderson said.
Rose plans to start taking classes at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way so he can dive year-round. His goal is to make it to the Olympics, just like his hero, Greg Louganis, who won two gold medals in the 1984 Summer Olympics.
“That’s my dream,” he said. “Just being in the Olympics would be amazing.”
Back on dry land, his career of choice also is quite ambitious.
“Fashion is my passion,” he said, adding that if he can’t get into design, he would like to coordinate fashion shows.
“‘America’s Next Top Model’ is the greatest show in the world. I watched that all the time. I want to be the one who creates their outfits.”
Rose said he may run track in the spring to help build up leg muscle. He is eyeing short events such as hurdles or speed events “that would help me use more force to get higher into the air and do more tricks.“
He also keeps busy with Distributive Education Clubs of America and Future Farmers of America, and is raising a hog again for the Kitsap County Fair & Stampede this summer after raising two last year.
Like his diving accomplishments, it will definitely help him stand out on the runway.
