Reid Omilian takes his final dive
Photo courtesy of Ally Chin
They say that the water is unforgiving. For some, that may be true. But for senior communications major and dive captain Reid Omilian, a few meters above the pool is his safe space.
Last month, Omilian completed his collegiate diving career with his third and final appearance at the NCAA Division III Diving Championships. He walked away with a 16th-place and 23rd-place finish in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, respectively.
Diving was simply a summer hobby for Omilian before it became something much more. Omilian’s experience first started with gymnastics, though he made the switch to diving during his freshman year of high school at Culver Academy in Indiana. The program lacked a gymnastics team, which revealed the path to a new passion.
After spending most of his life training flips and body control, diving came naturally.
What followed were four years of competitive diving with Culver’s varsity squad. During his first competition, Omilian placed second in the boys’ 1-meter diving event at sectionals. The next year, he broke Culver’s 11-dive record with a first-place victory in the boys’ 1-meter dive at sectionals.
As a junior, Omilian shattered that same record thrice, was named a sectional champion again and placed 14th overall in the 2021 Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Boys Swimming/Diving Championship. In his final year, he placed first in the 1-meter dive for sectionals again, fourth in the IHSAA Diving Regional and 8th in the 2022 IHSAA Boys Swimming/Diving Championship.
But the accolades weren’t earned easily.
“There were a bunch of different coaching changes,” Omilian said. “We would get people that weren't really experienced with knowing how to coach diving. So it was definitely something that I always thought like, ‘Oh, I'm never going to get better,’ because I don't have the resources for that.”
Luckily, Omilian persevered with the guidance and support of his teammates. Once he decided diving in college seemed like a true possibility, he began taking the next steps towards his calling.
As the decision approached, Omilian found a place at Chapman.
“They had what I was looking for academically, athletically, as well as location and a place that I want to be in (after) college,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Ally Chin
During his time as a Panther, Omilian set three school records. In 2024, he set the 1-meter and 3-meter 11-dive record with 550.40 and 583.25 points, respectively. In 2025, he set the 3-meter 6-dive record with a score of 382.15. This season, he ranked second in the 1-meter 6-dive event with 337.65 points, behind his teammate and senior communications major Jake Randazzo.
Additionally, Omilian has competed in the NCAA Division III Diving Championships in 2023, 2024 and 2026, and was named an All-American three times by The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).
He is the most accomplished diver in Chapman history.
As the dive captain, Omilian practiced leading by example and creating a community.
“If you put the time in and you are motivated, you're going to motivate others, which at the end of the day will have a huge, successful impact on yourself as well as your team,” Omilian said. “(Diving) is a lot more of a mental sport than people realize, and I think that without being able to trust yourself and your coach or your teammates, you're not going to get as far.”
This mindset helped make Omilian one of Chapman’s greats. For now, he hopes to move to Los Angeles and pursue a career in acting. And although it’s time to draw the curtains on his collegiate journey, Omilian said that diving may still be a possibility in the future.