LARGO, Fla. — When Rocco Simonelli is diving, he says nothing else can compare to the thrill.

“You’re just in a free fall. You can’t do anything except do what you know. It’s a fun rush,” Simonelli said.

His mom, who’s a former collegiate diver and coach, introduced Simonelli to the sport at a young age.

But for Simonelli it was just for fun. 

“When I started diving, I was actually little, you know, going to a local pool,” Simonelli said. “We had fun on the dive boards. My mom was a coach, so she always got me to try something new every time we went.”

It wasn’t until high school that he decided to pursue the sport.

His first love was martial arts, where he racked up many medals and awards. 

“As a youth, he was a national champion for taekwondo. He represented team USA at the Pan-American games in taekwondo,” Ann Simonelli said. “He’s been on USA national team, AAU national team and then he started with the diving and he’s won the county. He’s won districts.”

Although Simonelli got a later start competing in diving, he quickly found success, and decided it was the sport for him. 

“It was tough to see him step away from some of the other sports that he was also really excelling in and continue with the diving, but because he said this is what he was loving, this is what I had to let him do and he’s proven to me that this was the right choice,” his mother said.

The Countryside High graduate recently added another accolade. He’s the National Junior College men’s champion in the 1 meter. 

“It means a lot. It really shows to me that all the hard work really does pay off,” he said.

This fall, he’ll continue his training at Florida Atlantic University. 

He’s following in his mom’s footsteps, while making a big splash of his own.