Gay diver broke a school record at his Baptist university. Now he wants another.

Aidan Crutchfield began diving on a whim.

In the summer after the seventh grade, Crutchfield was attending a swimming camp at the University of Georgia when he spied a group of divers practicing their technique.

“I had a little bit of a gymnast background, so I was like, ‘Why not try it? It looks cool,’” he told Outsports.

Shortly afterward, he convinced his mother to take him to a diving clinic. After three sessions, the people in charge asked Crutchfield if he wanted to join the Georgia Diving Club.

Just like that, he’d found his new avocation.

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During his freshman year at Social Circle High School just east of Atlanta, Crutchfield decided to switch from swimming to competitive diving full time.

One aspect of the sport appealed to him above all else.

“Part of it was the ability to flip through the air,” he said. “Because when you leave the board, it almost feels like you’re flying. That in itself is so cool.”

Exploring the sport of diving and excelling

As he explored what worked best for him, Aidan Crutchfield initially tried platform diving at the club.

Admitting that he’s not the biggest fan of heights, he soon gravitated to springboard — at the Olympics springboard is 3-meter while platform is 10-meter — instead.

During his high school freshman year, Crutchfield placed third in the state of Georgia on the 1-meter springboard. He continued progressing in the sport, and by his junior year he was the only person competing in his division and consequently won the state title.

“Hey, a win is a win,” he noted with tongue in cheek.

Suffice it to say, diving proved to be the correct path.

Crutchfield grew up outside of the Atlanta metropolitan area in small-town Covington. Born in Kazakhstan, he and his twin sister were adopted shortly before they turned 3. 

While most of his friends knew he was gay early on, he ended up coming out to his parents during sixth grade. It was somewhat inadvertent and emblematic of the social media age: everything started with him posting a TikTok.

“It was some trend that was going on,” he explained, “And my parents weren’t concerned about the fact that I said I was gay, they were concerned about the fact that I didn’t have a shirt on.”

Their reaction was accepting, succinct and right to the point.

“They were like, ‘Good for you, we don’t care, put on a shirt.’”

Comfortable being gay in the rural South

Despite Covington being a small town in the south, Crutchfield recalled it being a place where he felt comfortable as an out gay kid. His best friend was the child of a lesbian couple and his parents also had friends who were part of the LGBTQ community.

Because most people in Covington belonged to the United Methodist Church — a church more accepting of LGBTQ people than many other Christian denominations — they were more accepting of the LGBTQ people in their town that some might think given stereotypes of people in the South.

When Crutchfield was going through the college selection process, a former mentor was working as a grad assistant at the University of the Cumberlands, an NAIA school in rural Kentucky.

She recruited him to join their diving program. After visiting campus and seeing that they had a strong academic deparment in education, Crutchfield decided this would be where he’d attend school. But there was one aspect that he would have to figure out how to navigate as a gay student athlete.

The Cumberlands was founded as a Baptist school with heavy religious overtones. During his first semester, Crutchfield realized that he would have to be on his guard when trying to make new friends.

“I listened in to conversations with different people who were in a really religious way and I’m like, ‘Ooo, OK, that probably won’t work.’ Compared to some of my other friends who were like, ‘We’re all still Christians,’ it’s not like they’re going to shame me for being what I am,” he said.

He has since bonded with a crew of other LGBTQ students who hang out at the campus’ main social space. “Honestly, they kinda find me,” he admitted.

As far as his college diving career has gone, Crutchfield continued to make his mark on the university’s team, breaking The school record for total score on one meter during a meet against Asbury University during his freshman year.

“I remember it was my last dive and I was like, ‘OK, this actually might be something I can do if I really nail this dive,’” he recalled, “As I hit the water, I immediately knew. I was like, ‘Yeah, I just did it!’”

Having completed his first year with one school record, Crutchfield is now aiming to capture another one—this time on three meter. He also finished the season barely missing out on Nationals and has set that as a goal for his next three years at the university.

Being an out gay man competing in diving, Crutchfield is also well aware that he’s following in the footsteps of one of the most celebrated LGBTQ athletes of all time.

“I look up to Tom Daley a lot,” he said, “Because I used to watch him on YouTube through his Olympics [videos]. That would be really cool if one day that could be me, obviously on a smaller scale. But that’s what I’ve always pushed myself for.”

Thus far, Crutchfield’s initial whim to try diving has turned into a state title and a university record. And he’s got three more years to keep pushing himself to even greater heights.

You can follow Aidan Crutchfield on Instagram @aidan.dives.

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