Connor Kuremsky has participated in numerous national and international diving competitions -- three times at the Junior Pan American Games, for example -- and has experienced the nerves and tensions that come with competing in such big events.

Thus a big high school event -- even one as big as the PIAA championship meet -- would not seem to be the kind of thing that would set his nerves jangling.

Guess again.

"I was really nervous for states," said Kuremsky, a Franklin Park resident and a freshman at North Allegheny. "I think it was because it really is a team event at states and we wanted to have a real good meet as a team. I wanted to do well and put up a good score to help our team as much as I could."

Kuremsky did better than put up a good score. He posted a score of 495.85 points to win the PIAA Class AAA championship in the boys' 1-meter diving competition at Bucknell University a week ago. giving him a nice complement to the WPIAL championship he won two weeks previously at his home pool at North Allegheny.

"He's only a freshman, but you would think that since he has competed internationally with the U.S. National team and at the Junior Pan Am Games and things like that, he'd be used to the high pressure environment," said Patti McClure, Kuremsky's coach at North Allegheny.

"There is still some room for error with him because you have to keep in mind that he's only 15. I think the international experience he had really helped him get over the nervousness. He did a great job."

Kuremsky and McClure agree that the key moment for Kuremsky came on his seventh dive. He chose to do a reverse 2 1/2, the most difficult dive on his list, for that one. Divers at the PIAA competition dive 11 times and judges toss out the two highest and two lowest scores they post among the 11 to compile their final total.

"He had a couple key dives he needed to hit," McClure said. "That one, with the way things were going, I just knew if he hit it he was going to win. He did it. He did a really nice job."

The reverse 2 1/2 carries a degree of difficulty of 3.0. The highest degree of difficulty on any high school dive is listed at 3.4, making Kuremsky's dive one of the most difficult any of the competitors attempted.

He believes it was enough to give him the edge against second-place Ryan Kuser of Wilson, who finished with 464.85 points. Two other WPIAL divers finished in the PIAA top 10. Butler's Heath Calhoun was fifth and Franklin Regional's Ryan Koter finished sixth.

"That dive really helped with my score," Kuremsky said. "We thought during the prelims that the scores [from the judges] were not what they should be. It seemed like the judges were scoring the dives kind of low, so I knew it was important to hit one that was difficult to try to impress them.

"I think after that [reverse 2 1/2] it kind of opened their minds about how well everyone was diving. Ryan Kuser was really good and a lot of the other guys, all of the other guys really, were diving really well. I knew I had to do well and that's what makes this really exciting."

Kuremsky said he entered the PIAA championships hoping to finish in the top three, given the strong performance he had at the WPIAL championships.

Kuremsky last year finished fifth on the 3-meter board and second on the 1-meter board in an international competition between the U.S. and divers from Great Britain in Sheffield, England, and has competed three times in the Junior Pan Am Games.

Last year, he finished fifth in the 1-meter competition in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Kuremsky hopes to continue improving enough to eventually challenge for a berth on the U.S. Olympic Team. The 2008 Games likely are out of reach for him, but he has targeted the 2016 Games as a goal.

"By that time I'll be in my early 20s and that seems to be when most divers really hit their peak," Koremsky said. "I've got to keep working at it. I think my strength is my ability to adjust [his body while in the air]. I'd say about three-quarters of my take-offs are not perfect, so it's important to me to be able to adjust when I dive.

"And for next [high school] year, I need to work on some other things. My dives are too splashy sometimes. Judges don't like to see any splash, so I need to work on my arm flexibility and arm movement when I'm going into the water."

McClure sees a bright future for Kuremsky as he matures and learns more about his craft. He dives with the Pitt Aquatics Club under the tutelage of Julian and Doe Krug and will benefit from that experience, she said.

"His techniques for every dive are almost flawless," she said. "He's got a natural gift."