Kurtis Mathews Champions Junior Campaign

For junior diver Kurtis Mathews, the 2020 SEC Championships was more than he could have ever expected, as was the competition leading up to it. He returned home to Australia a week before the championships and earned a high finish at World Cup Trials to position himself to qualify for the Australian Olympic Team this summer. The big performance completely changed his collegiate post season trajectory, as Mathews made Texas A&M and SEC history at championships, sweeping the springboard events, and it was only the beginning of what he has set out to accomplish.

Mathews began diving around the age of 10 after his swim coach suggested he try it out. It was a natural fit as he quickly fell in love with the sport and saw results. He was recruited from his club team to a National Talent Identification (NTID) squad after just months of diving, and climbed through the ranks of the Australian state and national programs. It was through these programs that he met and competed with Grant Nel, an Australian Olympian and an Aggie. Nel not only introduced Mathews to the opportunity of going to college in the United States on an athletics scholarship, but he introduced him to Texas A&M.

Mathews, and his twin sister Jayah, who also became a high-level diver, took one recruiting trip to the States that included three different schools. While Kurtis remained impressed by Aggieland, Jayah decided she would compete collegiately at the University of Iowa. For the first time in their lives they would be doing something different.

"We are extremely close," Mathews says of his relationship with his sister. "Back home we were training just over 30 hours a week, on the exact same squad. We would go to morning practice together, school together, have some classes together, we were in the same friend group. Then afternoon practice together. After that's all done, sometimes we would coach together, which both of us did as a part-time job throughout high school, and then go home to the same house. It was really, really intense, but we had a really good relationship"

Heading to college was an exciting time in his life. He was finally on his own, able to have his own identity for the first time. He was ready to further his diving career, but it was a bigger challenge than he anticipated. Mathews had worked so hard to get to the point of being a collegiate diver, but arrived on campus injured and a bit burnt out. It was an uphill battle at first with a strong physical and mental toll being taken. He questioned not if he made the right decision, but if everything he had worked so hard for was really worth it. He admits he fell out of love with diving as he fought through the bad days and attempted to make the most of the good ones.

Through all the ups and downs, Mathews was able to place second in the 3-meter event at SEC Championships as a sophomore and continued to see success into his current junior season. The tide shifted for him in his third year at A&M when the Aggies added freshman Victor Povzner to the roster. Mathews credits Povzner with helping him wake back up and fall in love with diving again. While Povzner's playful spirit and energy lighten things up, Mathews also looked inside himself and felt a responsibility to be a leader and a better example for the newcomer.

With a new outlook on the season, Mathews seemed to be gearing up for a promising post season. He tallied two wins on the 3-meter board and three on the 1-meter board during the dual meet portion season. He earned SEC Men's Diver of the Week honors after sweeping the diving events at No. 11 Georgia, but it wasn't until a trip back home to Sydney for World Cup Trials a week before SEC Championships that Mathews' outlook on his future truly shifted.

"I was really just going back to requalify my spot on the national team," Mathews said. "I didn't have any expectations of actually making the team. There was always a chance, but I didn't think I was that good. I know I'm talented and hardworking, but I didn't think I would ever achieve something like that. I was just going there to try my hardest and I ended up coming in second, and qualified for the team. It's very, very tough in Australia, we have excellent depth and really great competitors. That was definitely the best I have ever dove in my life, it was the best performance I've been able to produce."

Mathews returned from Australia refreshed mentally and boasting a new sense of confidence. He got to go home and enjoy the Australian way of life for a few days, spending some quality time with his parents and also competing in front of them, something he says he really enjoys doing. Going to school and competing so far away, his parents only get to check to the results online or possibly catch a live stream here and there. It means a lot to him, and his sister, to not only compete in front of their parents but celebrate their success with them as well.

Heading into the 2020 SEC Championships Mathews only had gold on his mind. It has been his goal since arriving at A&M to win gold at SEC Championships in the 3-meter event. With his confidence soaring and his mom in the stands as she made her first trip back to the States since accompanying the twins on their recruiting trip, he set out to accomplish exactly what he told her he wanted, two gold medals.

Mathews made history that week as he became the first Aggie to sweep the springboard events at SEC Championships and the first person since 2013 to pair those victories. He started the championships off checking off his number-one goal of winning the 3-meter event with a score of 438.55. Keeping his mind clear and his body healthy, Mathews added another top-finish to his resume the very next day. His score of 436.50 on the 1-meter board not only secured gold, but set a new A&M all-time record in the event (six dives) and bumped Nel, the person that brought him to Aggieland, down to second.

"It was just proof for me that hard work really does pay off. It doesn't always happen when you want it to, but when it does you have to enjoy the moment," Mathews said after looking back at a very successful month of competition.

His head is high again and his goals are rising higher. There is a lot left in the tank for Mathews, but also a long way to go. He will have his support system as close as it can be, with his mother and sister at Zones to cheer him on. As he aims to add to his post season success, he has proven to himself that the journey has in fact been worth it.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Kurtis Mathews

Victor Povzner

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