Staff Directory
Gamboa, Yaidel
Yaidel Gamboa
- Title:
- Head Diving Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- 919-962-6000
Yadiel Gamboa joined the UNC swimming and diving program in 2019 as the head coach of the diving programs. Gamboa arrived at Carolina after spending one season working with head coach Mark Gangloff and associate head coach Jack Brown at the University of Missouri. Since his arrival, he has been named National Coach of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year, while UNC divers have won 10 ACC championships, collected 22 ACC medals and registered 21 All-America performances. His group has also claimed multiple All-ACC Academic Team accolades. Star pupil Aranza Vázquez Montaño has claimed four National Championships under Gamboa's leadership, while earning ACC Diver of the Year three times and winning eight ACC titles.
During the 2023-24 season, Gamboa guided Vázquez Montaño to repeat National and ACC Championships on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard. He was named NCAA and ACC Diving Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. In total, Gamboa coached five ACC finalists and three All-America honorees. During the summer, he coached in the 2024 Paris Olympics for the second time and helped Team Mexico and Vázquez Montaño to a Top 16 finish.
In the summer of '23, Gamboa mentored Vázquez Montaño to a bronze medal in the 1-meter at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. He also helped Mexico to two silvers in the team events.
Gamboa was named the 2022-23 CSCAA Division I Women's Diving Coach of the Year and ACC Diving Coach of the Year in a season when he tutored five NCAA Championship qualifiers and led Vázquez Montaño to two National Championships. Vázquez Montaño swept the springboard events at the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships to become the first UNC athlete to win an individual diving championship after winning all three diving events at the ACC Championship meet.
Anton Down-Jenkins, Emily Grund and Haley Marshall also qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championships under Gamboa’s tutelage with Down-Jenkins earning All-America honors. Down-Jenkins earned the silver medal in both the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter springboard at the ACC Championships, while Grund claimed the bronze in the women’s 3-meter springboard.
Down-Jenkins was twice named ACC Male Diver of the Year with Gamboa’s instruction. He helped the New Zealand native collect four All-America awards, win three ACC individual diving titles and ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
Down-Jenkins and Vázquez Montaño each earned a spot on their country’s 2020 Olympic teams with Gamboa’s guidance. Down-Jenkins placed eighth on the men’s 3-meter springboard and Vázquez Montaño claimed sixth on the women’s 3-meter springboard.
Gamboa coached a trio of NCAA Championship qualifiers at Missouri during the 2018-19 season. On the men's side, senior Kyle Goodwin earned honorable mention All-America honors with top-16 finishes in both springboard events at the NCAA Championships, while freshman Isaac Khamis competed in the platform diving event as the Tigers finished 11th in the team standings. Senior Payton Conrad qualified in the women's platform event. He also coached three Tigers to All-SEC honors, including a podium finish by senior Kyle Goodwin.
Gamboa also coached a diver to a 2018 USA Winter National title on the women’s 3-meter springboard event and became a part of the USA coaching staff at the U.S. Grand Prix in Mission Viejo, Calif., where he coached a diver to bronze in the 3-meter Mix-Synchro event.
Gamboa coached one World Cup and two Junior World qualifiers as the assistant diving coach for City of Midland Aquatics in 2018 following a stint as the head diving coach at Florida Atlantic. He earned C-USA and Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Diving Coach of the Year honors after guiding FAU's Victoria Moretti to a pair of C-USA tittles and a pair of NCAA Championships berths, and Ryan McIntire to two CCSA titles and Male Diver of the Year Award plaudits.
While in South Florida, Gamboa also served as an assistant coach for the Fort Lauderdale Diving Team. One of his divers claimed the 2016 USA Diving Winter National Championships synchronized men's platform title. Gamboa also guided eight divers to national titles at the 2016 YMCA National Diving Championships.
Gamboa also spent time with the Zulia diving team in Venezuela and the YMCA of Central Florida. In Venezuela, he coached one diver who qualified for the Junior World Championships and three that made the Venezuelan National Team.
An accomplished diver in his own right, Gamboa was a member of the Cuban National Team from 1993-2001 and won 10 national titles, all at the junior level. Gamboa then moved to coaching, where he coached in Cuba from 2003-07, guiding his divers to four national team titles.
Gamboa earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and athletic training from the University of Havana (Cuba) in 2005.
During the 2023-24 season, Gamboa guided Vázquez Montaño to repeat National and ACC Championships on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard. He was named NCAA and ACC Diving Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. In total, Gamboa coached five ACC finalists and three All-America honorees. During the summer, he coached in the 2024 Paris Olympics for the second time and helped Team Mexico and Vázquez Montaño to a Top 16 finish.
In the summer of '23, Gamboa mentored Vázquez Montaño to a bronze medal in the 1-meter at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. He also helped Mexico to two silvers in the team events.
Gamboa was named the 2022-23 CSCAA Division I Women's Diving Coach of the Year and ACC Diving Coach of the Year in a season when he tutored five NCAA Championship qualifiers and led Vázquez Montaño to two National Championships. Vázquez Montaño swept the springboard events at the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships to become the first UNC athlete to win an individual diving championship after winning all three diving events at the ACC Championship meet.
Anton Down-Jenkins, Emily Grund and Haley Marshall also qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championships under Gamboa’s tutelage with Down-Jenkins earning All-America honors. Down-Jenkins earned the silver medal in both the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter springboard at the ACC Championships, while Grund claimed the bronze in the women’s 3-meter springboard.
Down-Jenkins was twice named ACC Male Diver of the Year with Gamboa’s instruction. He helped the New Zealand native collect four All-America awards, win three ACC individual diving titles and ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
Down-Jenkins and Vázquez Montaño each earned a spot on their country’s 2020 Olympic teams with Gamboa’s guidance. Down-Jenkins placed eighth on the men’s 3-meter springboard and Vázquez Montaño claimed sixth on the women’s 3-meter springboard.
Gamboa coached a trio of NCAA Championship qualifiers at Missouri during the 2018-19 season. On the men's side, senior Kyle Goodwin earned honorable mention All-America honors with top-16 finishes in both springboard events at the NCAA Championships, while freshman Isaac Khamis competed in the platform diving event as the Tigers finished 11th in the team standings. Senior Payton Conrad qualified in the women's platform event. He also coached three Tigers to All-SEC honors, including a podium finish by senior Kyle Goodwin.
Gamboa also coached a diver to a 2018 USA Winter National title on the women’s 3-meter springboard event and became a part of the USA coaching staff at the U.S. Grand Prix in Mission Viejo, Calif., where he coached a diver to bronze in the 3-meter Mix-Synchro event.
Gamboa coached one World Cup and two Junior World qualifiers as the assistant diving coach for City of Midland Aquatics in 2018 following a stint as the head diving coach at Florida Atlantic. He earned C-USA and Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Diving Coach of the Year honors after guiding FAU's Victoria Moretti to a pair of C-USA tittles and a pair of NCAA Championships berths, and Ryan McIntire to two CCSA titles and Male Diver of the Year Award plaudits.
While in South Florida, Gamboa also served as an assistant coach for the Fort Lauderdale Diving Team. One of his divers claimed the 2016 USA Diving Winter National Championships synchronized men's platform title. Gamboa also guided eight divers to national titles at the 2016 YMCA National Diving Championships.
Gamboa also spent time with the Zulia diving team in Venezuela and the YMCA of Central Florida. In Venezuela, he coached one diver who qualified for the Junior World Championships and three that made the Venezuelan National Team.
An accomplished diver in his own right, Gamboa was a member of the Cuban National Team from 1993-2001 and won 10 national titles, all at the junior level. Gamboa then moved to coaching, where he coached in Cuba from 2003-07, guiding his divers to four national team titles.
Gamboa earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and athletic training from the University of Havana (Cuba) in 2005.
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