OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Enzo Morello is on a mission.
“I am happy with where I’m at, but I’m always looking for the next step,” he said. “I’m always trying to achieve the next thing.”
“It’s really about next step, it’s always about the step forward,” added Michael Retelsdorf, owner and head coach of Midwest Diving Academy, Morello’s club. “We don’t really step behind.”
He’s using diving as a springboard.
“The biggest thing is my future,” Morello said. “I wanted something out of this sport.”
It’s why he left the gymnastics mat and fully dove into the pool his sophomore year at Elkhorn High.
“That’s what caught my eye right away, was how fast he went from his feet to his head,” Retelsdorf said.
“There’s things I want to achieve that I felt like I could do better in this sport than I could’ve in gymnastics,” Morello added.
He’s seeing the results. Morello just competed at the AAU Red-White-Blue national qualifying meet in Fort Collins, Colorado.
“He went out there understanding that, in his timing, that this was his time to dive,” Retelsdorf said. “I believe deep down he knew that he was ready to do it.”
“He told me it was my time,” Morello added. “It’s just my time. That’s simply what it was to him and that’s what he told me.”
A first-place finish on the three-meter board has now earned him a spot on the AAU National Team that will compete in Rijeka, Croatia, over the July Fourth weekend.
“I would’ve never expected this,” said Kendra Crenk, Morello’s mother. “I’s been an awesome journey. To see him grow from being a gymnast into this diving, I’m so proud of him.”
“Knowing that my mom gets to be there and it’s such a significant moment—she watched me take my first steps and she watched me take my first step off the diving board,” Morello added. “And now she’s going to watch me take the step off the diving board in Croatia.”
“For him, he went out and proved that the timing was right now and that was what he qualified to do,” Retelsdorf said. “He had to win it to get onto this team. He went out and beat the best.”
He says the best is still yet to come.
“The fact that I know there’s more,” Morello said. “It’s more than just an event. It’s an inspiration, it’s a dream, it’s something that pushes me toward something more.”
Morello’s family is raising money for the trip through a GoFundMe, which you can find here. Retelsdorf said the funds are not just for him to go dive at an international competition, but rather to round him “into a complete person.”
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