Fabian Stepinski: ACC Male Diver of the Week

Fabian Stepinski walked slowly to the end of the springboard and set his feet, preparing for his second dive. His first hadn't gone as planned, but he knew that he could—and had to—work past the resulting anxiety.

"Somehow I was able to manage and to use this nervous feeling to my advantage," said Stepinski, a first-year diver at the University of North Carolina. "Once I was in that flow, I could really perform dive after dive."

Stepinski pushed through, drawing energy from the large crowd in attendance. He finished the 3-meter diving competition first among eight divers from UNC and the University of Virginia, where the meet was taking place. He continued to the 1-meter competition, riding the high of his stellar performance in the first event.

And just like that, Stepinski landed another first place finish in the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 377.70, a personal record by over 20 points. Further, his sweep of both diving events earned him the award for ACC Male Diver of the Week.

"Things like this really give you motivation," said Stepinski about receiving the award. "I feel extremely blessed, super happy. The first thing I thought was, 'Let's get into the pool and work even harder.'"

Stepinski's head coach, Yaidel Gamboa, was not surprised that he took the award as a cue to push himself further. Though both are in their first season with UNC's program, Gamboa has noticed and highly praised Stepinski's work ethic.

"He's pushing himself every day to the limit," Gamboa said. "He shows up every day and gives you 150%-200% of what he's got. Not 100%, he gives you more."

But Stepinski's work ethic is not unique to his time at UNC. He started diving at the relatively late age of 10, and despite his peers telling him that he began too late to pursue diving professionally, he persisted.

Of all Stepinski's accomplishments, he is most proud of placing fifth in the 3-meter synchronized diving competition at the 2015 European Games and winning the Swiss national title twice in the 1-meter and twice in the 3-meter competitions in 2017 and 2019.

In his first collegiate season, winning ACC Male Diver of the Week has been a highlight for Stepinski. He knew about the award but was not expecting it after the Virginia meet.

"I was hoping to get it at one point," said Stepinski. "But that's not the thing I was focusing on. I was focusing on doing my best."

And this meet at Virginia was easily Stepinski's best competition of the season, so far. Beyond his high scores and first-place finishes in both events, Stepinski thrived in the competitive environment, Gamboa noted.

"He likes the big stage," Gamboa said. "I think he fueled from that, and it worked out for him really well."

Gamboa emphasized that Stepinski adds more to the team than just stellar scores. Though the diver is only a first-year, Gamboa said that he is an excellent role model for the rest of the team.

"He's ready to go on time every day. And then you ask him to do his thing, and he's ready to go," said Gamboa. "To see that, and see that it's translating to a result, I think it sends a message out to the team, like 'This guy is doing it this way, and this is what's happening.'"

Stepinski, grateful for Gamboa's energetic presence, credited his coach with helping him grow in confidence. He cited that same confidence as a crucial reason for his performance at Virginia. He hopes that, in the future, it will be the key to him achieving every athlete's dream: competing at the Olympic Games.

But for now, Stepinski has set his mind on the ACC and NCAA Championships, as he plans to take his career one season at a time.

Players Mentioned

Fabian Stepinski

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