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Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/438308
90 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 f level every day. The more time two people are spending together, the easier it is to make him walk and talk the same, if you will." 'SKYROCKETING' EARLY By the age of 3, Steele Johnson was doing front flips into his neighborhood pool. Over the next few years, he added in a backflip, a re- verse flip, an inward flip and more, each getting incre- mentally more dare-devilish until finally something had to be done. "Our mom thought we were getting too dangerous," said older brother Race Johnson, a reserve cornerback for Purdue's football team, who dived as a youngster as well before turning his attention to team-oriented sports. "We were just doing a lot of flips and twists and stuff. Steele would start doing reverses — I wouldn't do that because that's not my thing — but we'd be doing backflips and stuff, things that other kids weren't do- ing." It was the start of Steele's Olympic dream, one that could soon be fulfilled. Along with his synchronized event with Boudia, Johnson hopes to qualify as an indi- vidual in the platform at the Rio Games. Meanwhile, he has collegiate competitions at Pur- due, where he's already off to a good start. In only his first semester, Johnson is a three-time Big Ten Diver- of-the-Week and has twice been named the conference Freshman-of-the-Week. Soldati says the Carmel, Ind., native has the physical gifts needed to be a top-flight diver: He's flexible and has good body alignment, but there's more. "He's got a fierce tenacity. Mentally, he trains to win and wants to win," said Soldati, the 10th-year diving coach at Purdue. "Sometimes I have to tone him down on that, thinking it's not about the win but about being the best you can be. He's a fierce competitor and is tenacious in his training." Johnson displayed those characteris- tics early. When he was 9, he was invited to train at the USA Diving facility in In- dianapolis, and opted out of public school to be homeschooled, allowing for the rig- orous hours of practice. But he showed nearly right away that the choice was a wise one. At the 2006 Junior East Nationals, Johnson came in with few expectations, competing against older, more experienced divers in the 11-and-under division on the 1- and 3-meter springboards. "We didn't think much about him winning it," Race Johnson said. "People were like 'This kid is no one.' But he went in and won it. The guy who was supposed to win it came up and said afterward, 'You got lucky. Tomorrow, I'm going to beat you on 3-meter.' And Steele goes in and just destroys the kid the next day. That's when I figured out, 'Oh, he's pretty good at this,' and then it just skyrock- eted." Johnson has had plenty of success over the years, becoming a seven-time senior national champion with USA Diving, including the 2014 platform winner at the Winter Nationals Dec. 21 in Columbus, Ohio, where he defended his title. And he's a 15-time junior national champion and four-time title winner at the junior Pan- Am Games. But it was his move to Purdue a couple years ago that gave him a needed diving jolt. After a poor performance at an event in Australia, where he finished ninth in both the synchro and individual platform, he went looking for a new environment. After taking an unofficial visit to Purdue, Johnson Tom Campbell Purdue coach Adam Soldati is working to expand Johnson's repertoire, the same as he did with Boudia six years ago.