By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- His unlikely career as a diver began with a simple walk through the building that houses the Dr. Mary Jo Moriarty Swimming Pool at Bridgewater State University.

Robbie Soucy (Frye Island, Maine) happened to be at the Kelly Gym one day in the spring of 2024 when he decided to head to the pool and check in on some friends who were on the Bears' swimming & diving team.

While there, Soucy met for the first time with BSU Coach Emeritus Joe Yeskewicz, who wound up suggesting he could join the BSU roster for the 2024-25 season.

"We talked for an hour," recalled Soucy. "He asked me if I was interested in joining the team. I said, 'Nah, I am not that good at (swimming).'

"He said, 'What about diving? We'll teach you. We're going to Puerto Rico (in January 2025) for a winter training trip.' I was like, 'Puerto Rico? Sign me up, I'll go.'

"I tell people that's the reason I joined. I wanted to go to Puerto Rico."

Soucy had been a basketball, baseball and cross country runner at Windham High in Maine and had never been part of a swimming & diving team.

But heading down the stretch of his collegiate life, Soucy was intrigued about getting back into athletics and trying something brand new like diving.

So he took Yeskewicz up on his offer and became part of the '24-25 Bears as the lone diver on the roster. Soucy learned how to dive from the 1-meter and 3-meter boards from scratch under the guidance of Nicole Radanovics, the BSU diving coach.

Now a fifth-year senior, Soucy will finish his second and final season as a Bears diver next week at the Little East Conference Championships, which run from Feb. 12-15.

Soucy has come a long way from someone who knew nothing about diving a couple of years ago to now.

He was the Little East Rookie Diver of the Year last season, finishing third in 3-meter diving and fourth in 1-meter diving. Soucy has been selected the conference's Diver of the Week three times this season, five times in his career.

"If you talked to me five years ago and said that I was going to be a collegiate diver and winning some awards and accolades, I would have thought you were crazy," said Soucy, who graduates in May with a physical education degree. "I was a basketball, baseball, football athlete growing up.

"I never would have expected my college career to end up being the way it was and I'm extremely thankful for everything."

After a busy athletics career in high school, Soucy was involved in intramurals at BSU before discovering diving.

Once he joined coach Mike Caruso's swimming & diving team, Soucy had to learn as much as possible to be ready for the '24-25 season.

"It was definitely a big change from every other sport I've done my entire life," said Soucy. "A whole different world. I didn't know how to do back flips until my coach taught me. It was an experience, for sure, and wasn't easy to learn.

"My diving coach is an amazing coach and taught me how to do flips and back flips. She was very patient. She was dealing with someone who had no background. You didn't have to do flips in the sports I had played."

But Soucy kept getting better and better in the two years he has competed as the solo male diver at BSU.

Last Saturday on Senior Day, Soucy finished his home career by winning both diving events against Clark University and Plymouth State University.

Soucy wants to be an elementary school teacher and a high school coach in a couple of sports.

He has worked as a substitute teacher in the Bridgewater-Raynham school district and will student-teach this fall. Soucy has also done some coaching with Special Olympics athletes in Bridgewater.

"Coaching is a way for me to keep sports in my life," said Soucy. "I knew I wasn't going to be a professional athlete. So those who can't, coach. I want to help kids get to the collegiate level and do for them which unfortunately I coudn't do."

Soucy has been a clinician for the Children's Physical Developmental Clinic for three years, working on Saturday mornings at the Kelly Gym.

"You get paired up with a child with a disability and spend time working on specific goals designated for them, working in the pool, in the gym, hanging out, having a good time," said Soucy.

"I was taking a physical education class and it was required to attend a clinic and write a paper. I loved the atmosphere so much and asked if I could keep working there. It felt like a rewarding experience. It made me feel good."

The Little East Championships will be the final time Soucy suits up for the Bears.

"I won't have that family anymore," said Soucy. "My diving team, the female divers, I think of them as my sisters. They're like a family. I care about each and every one of them."

Robbie Soucy, the unlikely diver, made the most of his two-year stay with the Bears.

He went from someone with zero experience to someone who provided points to BSU on the board.

"It was a quick little career, but it was fun as heck," said Soucy. "I randomly joined up just for the fun of it, on a whim.

"I have an album of videos on my phone. I could show you the first time I hopped on a board and the most recent one. It dosen't look like the same person. It's kind of wild what I've done. I look at the progress I've made from October of '24 to now. I say to my coach I wish I could have gotten started sooner. Maybe I could have been better and broken some records.

"It's been one heckuva journey. I'm just glad I joined when I did. I'm glad for the people I've met and the accomplishments. I've gained a lot more than I expected to."