Since taking over as the program director and senior coach for The Woodlands Diving Academy in 1989, Ken Armstrong has sent 10 athletes to the Olympics and helped more than 80 athletes earn diving scholarships to Division I colleges.
Originally from Canada, Armstrong attended The University of Texas and dove in the 1972 and 1976 Olympic games before turning to coaching. He relocated to The Woodlands in 1985 and took over The Woodlands Diving Academy, formerly The Woodlands Diving Team, shortly after.
“So far, every kid that comes out of this program has gone on to receive a Division I college scholarship—100 percent,” Armstrong said. “That’s pretty hard to do, but that’s our goal. [The] Olympics is secondary in my mind. If they get to that point, that’s great, but I want their education paid for.”
The academy has had divers in every Olympics since 2000, including 2004 when five divers were from Armstrong’s team and he was the head Olympic coach.
One of those athletes was Laura Wilkinson, who under the coaching of Armstrong attended UT on a diving scholarship and dove in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics. Eight years later, she still dives with the team for fun, and her daughter participates in the academy’s Acrokidz program.
“The team has always been like a family, and I’ve found after going to college and other places—those teams aren’t like that,” Wilkinson said. “There’s definitely a unique environment [Armstrong] has created here where everyone works hard together, but we have fun, too.”
In the 1970s when The Woodlands Diving Academy first began, the team used The Woodlands Athletic Center as its pool facility. In 2009, however, the center was demolished and turned into an apartment complex forcing the academy to find another home.
“When The Woodlands Athletic Center was demolished, it had a pretty massive impact on us,” Armstrong said. “The Conroe [ISD] Natatorium is phenomenal, and CISD has been nothing but gracious and accommodating. But there’s five or six high schools that utilize this pool, so our pool time is very limited, making it very difficult to maintain an international-level program.”
The Woodlands Diving Academy has a dryland/gym facility in Oak Ridge North where the team spends the first half of its practice out of water. It then travels to the CISD Natatorium in Shenandoah for the second half.
The facility does not have a platform, meaning if athletes want to practice certain skills, they have to go to Texas A&M University or The University of Houston.
“Diving is a great opportunity for scholarships, but it also opens up a world of opportunity for kids to travel, go to meets and meet new people,” Wilkinson said. “The dream is to have one all-inclusive facility with the dryland/gym and the pool with a platform—that’s [Armstrong’s] big vision.”
Lessons Director Scott Jenson said a new facility would also enable him to take on more young athletes.
“I have a wait list of more than 20 kids, and I really wish I could just bring them all on the team,” Jenson said. “I really just want to grow the sport because it’s a fun, different sport.”
