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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 110 cial online bio, is not one of the NCAA national champi- onships he's won (and there have been plenty). No, it's a failed dive that gave him and his entire team a chuckle. "It was one of those moments where I could either be angry that I finished third, especially since I just came from the Olympics or I could come out of the water laugh- ing," he said. "The team's pointing and laughing at me, and I'm just over there laughing and re-watching the vid- eo with them, because it's funny. If you're not having fun with diving, you shouldn't be doing it. "Diving is not everything. You can win the biggest competition in the entire world and you can lose the eas- iest competition in the world. (The important thing is to) not let it affect you." When one sits and talks with one of the most decorat- ed athletes in Boilermaker history as he gets ready for his junior season, it's clear within minutes that John- son's perspective on and definition of success is different than most. In fact, he can barely say the word "success" without involuntarily and repeatedly using his fingers to make quotation marks in the air. Johnson may be one of only two men in NCAA histo- ry — with Purdue predecessor and Olympic gold med- alist David Boudia the other — to claim national titles in all three diving events (1-meter, 3-meter, platform), but he doesn't spend his waking hours figuring out how many more he can win before graduation, and he certainly doesn't sit around at night and count tro- phies or medals. "It's been awesome to go to the Olympics. It's been awesome to win NCAA titles. But what's more awesome is coming into practice every day and being able to love on the team and just be in this environment daily with them and do life with them," Johnson said. "Because at the end of the day, that's what's going to last, are those relationships. So, yeah, success can come and success can go, but success looks different for every person. "Sure, I've been 'successful' because I've done certain things, but other people on the team have been just as suc- cessful as I have because they've achieved their own goals and their own accomplishments. I just want to love them well and help them achieve their goals. And by helping them achieve their goals, that's achieving my goal." Johnson has matured to the point where he knows that his diving success can be a conduit for bigger, more important things in the real world. "Success in the pool is nowhere near what true suc- cess is," Johnson said. "Diving is something I can use, right now, to reach out to people, but there's more beyond that. My body has a limit; it's going to have a point where it ends. But it's not like all of my success dies when my career dies, because I continue on, people continue on, and relationships continue on." Johnson is coming off a busy summer that included not only a trip to the FINA world championships in Buda- pest, where he finished sixth in synchronized 10-meter platform and seventh in 1-meter springboard, but also his wedding. After taking time off recently to spend with his new bride, Hilary, Johnson is beginning to ramp up training toward the 2017-18 season and with one eye on the next big international competition. He describes himself as a very patient and thorough person and knows it will take time to once again fine-tune and perfect his mechan- ics as he begins to work back into elite shape under the guidance of diving coach Adam Soldati. "Steele has trained diligently for the success he has enjoyed here at Purdue and internationally," Soldati said. "He understands that each school year we build towards the championship meets, including Winter Nationals in December, Big Tens in February and NCAAs in March. We gear his training accordingly, but he still enjoys com- peting alongside his teammates at our dual meets. The focus is always on being prepared to perform as well as he can and the results will take care of themselves." Amazing Steele • Swept the 2017 springboard diving NCAA titles • Joined alumnus David Boudia as the only divers in the country since platform was added in 1990 to win NCAA championships in all three events during their careers • 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist • Only member of Team USA to compete in both springboard and platform events at the 2017 World Championships