By Gavin Lapaille

When University of Louisville senior diver Robbie Lewis heads to the NCAA Diving Zones, he’ll be going up against old friends and rivals from years past.

Lewis will travel to Auburn University in Auburn, Ala. to take part in his fourth straight NCAA Diving B Zones meet. The meet begins Thursday and runs through Saturday.

Lewis said he expects tough competition.

“I’ve been diving against a lot of these guys my whole life but it’s a different competition when you’re in college,” Lewis said.

Divers qualify for the Zones based on their performance throughout the season. Participants in the five Zone meets all over the country will compete for a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Last week, Lewis finished fifth in the three-meter board and seventh in the one-meter board at the Big East Championships. He has been consistent all season, sweeping both boards in meets against West Virginia University, University of Cincinnati and Western Kentucky University.

As a freshman, Lewis won both the one-meter and three-meter boards at the Conference USA championships and was named C-USA Diver of the Meet.

Lewis said he prefers the three-meter board in competition.

“I’ve always had the mentality the higher I go the better I am,” Lewis said. “On three-meter I have a fairly good chance. I can compete up there.”

Lewis started diving in a summer country club league where a coach saw potential in him. The then 11-year-old Lewis was sent to U of L diving coach Mike Zehnder, who also coaches youth diving classes.

Zehnder said Lewis has matured greatly since they first met.

“After he started college he knew what he wanted to do in life and he followed his choices,” Zehnder said. “It’s all working out for him now.”

Lewis said the relationship with Zehnder was a big reason for his decision to sign with U of L.

“Mike is like my dad,” Lewis said. “I’ve been diving with him for a long time. I’m really glad I continued that with my college career. It has made all the differences in the world.”

Lewis, who graduated from Saint Xavier High School, is one of four Louisville products on the men’s team this season. In his four seasons at U of L, the team switched conferences, opened a new facility and broke into the top 25 rankings for the first time in school history.

Lewis said he knew the program was on a path for greatness, but didn’t think it would happen this quickly.

“When I first started as a freshman I was in Crawford Gym diving in a basement,” Lewis said. “We have definitely come a long way and proved to the country what we can do as a program and being a contender.”

Lewis said he feels U of L’s diving team has grown tremendously. He has three fellow divers with him this season, which Lewis describes as “awesome.”

“I’ve been a solo guy for the last three years, basically diving by myself,” Lewis said. “It’s fun to hand down the tradition to them and show them what they get to look forward to.”

Freshman diver David Zamkov said Lewis is “the most supportive teammate you could imagine having.”

“He is always upbeat even when you are having the worst meet of your life he can pull you out of it and make you feel a lot better,” Zamkov said. “He’ll be sorely missed next year.”

No matter what happens the rest of the season, Lewis said he will look back on his time at U of L as a positive one.

“It’s been overall the best experience I could ever have,” Lewis said. “It has been great to be apart of the growing program and I’m happy to be apart of that.”