A gymnast turned nationally ranked diver? Although the two sports may seem like opposites, the transition between them was seamless and natural for Alexa Kalish.

Currently a senior, Kalish dives for both Charles River Diving at the club level and the girls varsity swim and dive team at the high school level. She recently announced her verbal commitment to the admissions process at Dartmouth College dive at the Division I level.

Kalish started gymnastics at eight years old, and at 14 she made the transition to diving. She immediately proved herself as a diver and quickly developed a love for the sport.

During her freshman and sophomore years, scheduling conflicts kept her from being able to join the high school’s diving team. However, she was thrilled to finally be able to join the team her junior year.

Kalish, who has learned to balance her time-consuming school work and her diving, said that she has had support from teachers throughout her high school experience.

“It can definitely get to be a lot sometimes. I’m just constantly working everywhere I go, but the teachers at BHS have really helped me manage it and have been very accommodating when I ask for extensions,” Kalish said.

Eva Georgaklis, a senior and captain of the varsity swim and dive team, had been doing gymnastics with Kalish for eight years before the two switched to diving. She has been continually impressed by Kalish’s hard work.

“She has an incredible work ethic, one of the strongest I’ve ever seen. Some days she goes to both high school and club practices on the same day,” Georgaklis said.

This work ethic helped Kalish accomplish goals throughout her diving career, such as qualifying for the USA Diving Nationals this year. She is currently holding both the six and 11 dive records at the high school.

Her coach, Kelly Gilmore, noted that Kalish has undergone impressive personal growth that has strengthened her as a diver.

“She’s very hard on herself, so when I met her I wanted to figure out how we could work on that. Over time, she has become more positive about herself and easier on herself, so I’ve seen growth in many ways from her,” Gilmore said.

She started the recruitment process May, 2020 during her sophomore year, her hard work paid off when she officially committed on July 15, 2021 to Dartmouth College as a diver for their women’s team. Kalish said that she was grateful her recruiting process was made less stressful because her coaches were all open and honest with her throughout the process. She is excited to continue diving in college.

“I’m very excited. It is such a great school and everyone on the team seems amazing,” Kalish said.

Gilmore said that Kalish is regarded as very kind by her teammates, and she is excited about what this next chapter in her life will bring for Kalish.

“Alexa is amazing. She is very committed to diving and very intelligent,” Gilmore said. “All together she is great at what she does, and she just comes to practice every day, wanting to be better than the day before.”