He taught himself how to dive through videos on YouTube growing up in South Los Angeles. At age 4, he was so excited to try diving at the neighborhood pool that he didn’t tell the truth about his age.
“He lied about his age and told them he was older and that’s how they allowed him to use the spring board,” his mother, Sabrina, said.
On Wednesday at the City Section diving championships at Palisades High, no one knew who Rosales-Cristales was.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d win,” he said.
Except he did win. He’s the City Section diving champion as a 14-year-old freshman.
“I focused on the prize and thought what would happen if I won,” he said.
Rosales-Cristales has hearing aids but doesn’t let anything stop him from succeeding. He played basketball, soccer and baseball before high school but thanks to YouTube, he keeps learning new dives.
“I’ll give it a try,” he told his mother about joining the Hawkins swim team.
And now he can wear a medal around his neck to show off his City championship.