Tyler Goulden took up diving only a few years ago. He mastered it very quickly.

The Thornton Academy junior won the Southwestern crown and his first staste title this past season, and most of his dive wins weren’t even close.

At the Southwestern Championships in Cape Elizabeth on Feb. 4, Goulden, a former gymnast, won the meet in the 11-dive format with at total of 342.85 points. That was better than Windham’s James Gallant, who placed second with a score of 233.35.

“Tyler is focused and a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to his dives,” Thornton diving coach Heidi Pare said at the meet. “He’s fun to watch.”

At the state meet at Bowdoin College in late February, Goulden whe won the Class A title scoring 355.05 points.

He crushed second place finisher Kevin Flathers of Cape Elizabeth who scored 307.75 points.

In addition to the state meet win, he set a Thornton  Academy school record in mid January in the 11-dive format scoring 433 points, smashing the old recored by more than 100 points.

Goulden became a diver during his freshman year shortly before the Southwestern Competition that year.

He credits he gymnastics background with helping him excel in his new sport, which he is dominating.

“You can always get better,” he said in February. “I know that no matter what I do, because you’re taught this in gymnastics, you can always improve.”

— Contact Al Edwards at 282-1535, ext. 317.