Diving has taken Connor Kuremsky around the world during his five years of competing. Kuremsky, 14, a freshman at North Allegheny High School, has trained as far away as China and competed in Brazil and England.

After a strong performance at East Nationals in Rockville, Md., Kuremsky will now travel to Mission Viejo, Calif., to compete in nationals. He will attempt to qualify for the junior Pan American games for the third time.

The Nationals will be Aug. 7-9. He competed in the Junior Pan Am games in Brazil in 2003 and in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2005. This year's games will be in Puerto Rico.

Kuremsky trains at the Pitt Aquatic Club with the husband-and-wife team of Doe and Julian Krug. He will join North Allegheny's diving program and, almost immediately, could be among the WPIAL favorites.

Krug said he believes he will be the "hands down" favorite in most of the WPIAL meets and have a chance to finish at the top in PIAA competition.

"I have been a spectator at WPIAL meets before," Kuremsky said. "I want to get first my freshman year and first in states as well."

He has qualified for nationals every year since 2003, but this year was the first time he placed first at the East Nationals. He finished first on the 1-meter board and placed second and third on platform and the 3-meter, respectively. The top 12 divers qualified out of a field of 40.

Kuremsky will have to deal with more than the time difference when he heads west for Nationals. He also will have to adjust to diving outdoors and coping with the sun, wind and other weather conditions.

The last time nationals were outdoors was 2004. He gets most of his outdoor practice at Settlers Cabin.

"Connor's forte is probably his mind," Doe Krug said. "He is a very hard worker and very good at focusing. That might not seem surprising at 14, but when he came in, he was only 9 and he was a very mature little guy."

He got into diving after seven years of gymnastics. He quit gymnastics to focus on diving when he was 10.

"I thought diving was more of a relaxed sport," Kuremsky said. " It wasn't so intense, it just seemed like more fun.

"In gymnastics, you're always just trying to win right from the beginning. In diving, you can have fun and work your way to the top."

Krug expects him to dive for a Division I college someday. His trip to Mission Viejo will bring him about eight hours away from Stanford University, a school that Kuremsky has always wanted to attend.

One of his teammates at Pitt Aquatic Club is the Krugs' daughter, Cassidy, a three-time state champion at Montour High School. She dives for Stanford.

"He's had a dream to go to Stanford," Doe Krug said. "I would expect he has the academics where that could be a legitimate goal. He is a smart, conscientious student as well."

Along with traveling and training with divers from all over the world, Kuremsky has gained valuable experience by moving up to compete in a senior competition. In his first senior meet, he placed 25th on the 3-meter and 18th on the 1-meter, about in the middle of the pack.

"Julian wanted me to have a good experience and hit my dives," Kuremsky said. "I saw different techniques the older divers were using. I learned from them and brought them back and tried them at Pitt."

Samantha Pickens and Amanda Lohman also will represent Pitt Aquatic Club at nationals. Both enjoyed success diving during the 2007 scholastic season.

Pickens, a sophomore from Franklin Regional, was the PIAA Class AAA champion. Lohman, a senior at Upper St. Clair, was the WPIAL champion.