When Fairview junior Caroline Younge fractured her spine two years ago, an opportunity presented itself to steer her athletic career in a new direction.

The flipping fanatic, who began in gymnastics before transitioning over to trampolining, decided to take on the softer approach when she joined diving. Fairview’s swim team has only benefited from it.

Trampolining, an Olympic sport, circulates around athletes performing complex twists and somersaults in between leaps on an above-ground trampoline.

“For a routine, you do 10 skills in a row. It’s similar to diving, because you’re just learning to flip as many times as possible. It gave me a lot of spatial awareness, I guess,” Younge said. “Diving is a lot less stressful than trampolining. In trampoline, the stakes were so high, because you’re on an above-ground trampoline and there’s nothing to stop you from flying off onto concrete, except for four random guys. Whereas diving, it seems like just a happier atmosphere.”

Younge felt the wrath of a jump gone wrong and ended her career then and there, five years after she started. The water she traded up for has been much kinder to her as she continues to improve in the pool. Last year, she placed 12th at the Class 5A state swim and dive meet, where she scored a 403.05.

BVSD’s first-year diving coach, Jessica Ebert, believes Younge has what it takes to place in the top five this year.

“She has really clean lines when she dives,” Ebert said. “Her body positions are really great and her entries are really good, so when she hits the water, there’s not a lot of splash. The first and last thing that the officials see is when they take off and when they hit the water.”

Ebert noted that Younge can perform difficult dives “almost effortlessly,” something that Younge herself never imagined she’d be able to accomplish when she began two years ago. Now, she’s working on learning three-and-a-half flips and twists on 3-meter dives, and can currently do back two-and-a-half flips and reverse two-and-a-half flips.

She hopes that as she progresses through her high school career, she can continue to impress the judges — and any college coaches that may want to come calling.