SD Prep Sports: Swimming

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Posted March 29, 2003

He is the human equivalent to the Eveready Bunny. Wind him up, put him down and there he goes … and goes … and seemingly just keeps on going.

Aaron Stinson, a sophomore at Rancho Buena Vista High School, seems equally adept at producing positive results whether he is running hills on the cross country course, dodging head and arm throws on the wrestling mat or nailing a 1 ½ somersault with one twist from the free position on the diving board.

Asked about burnout, Stinson just shrugs and offers a smile. It’s obvious he enjoys what he’s doing -- and for anyone who has seen him compete, it’s obvious he does it well.

"I kind of think that I could do better if I concentrated on just one sport but I get tired of one sport if I do it for so long. By doing the different sports, it gives me a break," he said.

The pint-size RBV workhorse lists his top sport as diving. He participates year-round in the sport (he’s been competing five years). He placed third in the Palomar League finals as a freshman before going on to finish fourth at the ensuing San Diego Section Division I finals. His performance at last year’s Division I meet was nothing short of impressive for a freshman.

"I was happy about it but I wanted to get third," said Stinson, who ranks as the second-highest returning CIF Division 1 place-winner this season.

To constantly be on the run or swim, it is obvious he places high standards on himself. His goal this season is to place second in the Division I dive finals (he trails defending champion Dustin Watson of Poway among returners) and would like to one day pursue the sport in college.

Stinson enters the diving season on a run of accolades that include being named the Longhorns’ Junior Varsity Most Valuable Runner during the fall cross country season and finishing third at the San Diego County Junior Varsity wrestling championships during the winter sports season. He also wrestled in varsity dual meets this past wrestling season, finishing 4-1 and earning Second Team All-Palomar League honors.

This is the RBV wunderkind’s second season in all three sports.

"After doing wrestling and going into diving, it’s less hard on the body. It’s more of a mental thing than physical," Stinson said.

Stinson lists wrestling as his second favorite sport even though he has participated in cross country about as long as diving.

He competed as a freshman while weighing just 82 pounds. He wrestled in the 98-pound division this past season while adding three inches to his height (he stood in at five feet tall his freshman season and now is 5-3).

Besides the three sport high school endurance test, he has also recently added freestyle wrestling to his repertoire. He would like to get enough experience to compete at the upcoming state championship meet.

Stinson competes in club diving for the Tailor Made Divers based at Palomar College. He has begun to master dives from the tuck position and is now tackling higher degree of difficulty dives from the pike position (his dive card includes 21 dives from both the one-meter and three-meter board). Last summer, he took eighth place in the regional championship meet and sixth in the following zone finals.

He chose aquatics as his main sport of interest because it was essentially a family thing. His two older brothers and older sister all competed, including brother Cameron who is currently the top diver at Palomar College. Sister Krista was a four-time CIF placer for RBV, specializing in the individual medley and backstroke events. Tyler Stinson, the oldest sibling in the family, also swam the backstroke event in high school.

Despite the aspect of the non-stop activity that competing in successive high school sports seasons presents, there is one benefit in that each sport contributes something of value to his other passions.

Cross country provides increased leg strength and conditioning for both wrestling and diving. Wrestling provides muscle tone and increased upper body strength that can be beneficial in adding increased degree of difficulty of dives to his dive card.

His highest mark so far on any particular dive has been a 7 ½. "You don’t see a ‘10’ until the Olympics," he said.

Stinson’s goal may not be to gather international glory but certainly no one can deny his status as a very well-rounded student-athlete.