Charlotte Martin stood on the end of the three-meter diving board, wringing her hands.

“This is gonna be scary,” she said.

“Come on, Char,” yelled her teammates from below.

“Lock your arms. Throw from your waist,” diving coach Bob Benson called to her.

Another couple of seconds passed before Martin, who said she is somewhat afraid of heights, jumped off the board. She tucked her body and flipped two and a half times before entering the pool with little splash.

“When you’re standing up there looking across the entire pool, you’re just thinking about the mechanics and listening to the coach,” Martin said. “You can psyche yourself out and think too much.”

When Martin joined the women’s diving team last year, she didn’t have three-meter experience. Martin said the transition from high school to college practices was tough.

“I’ve never worked that hard in my life,” she said.

At the Sun Belt Championships last season, Martin won fourth place in three-meter and fifth place in one-meter competition. This season, Martin got off to a good start with her first place finish on the one-meter against Delta State.

As a sophomore, Martin has the added pressure of leading the young women’s team. Teammates Erica Wilson, Emily Waits and Jessica King are also freshmen.

“I have to push myself and everyone else,” Martin said.

At the beginning of the semester, Martin said she helped prepare the women by sharing her experiences of training and the coach’s expectations.

Erica Wilson, who came from Ontario, Canada, said Martin helped show her the ropes. Wilson won her first college diving meet in the three-meter event against Delta State.

“We’re together so much that we’re pretty close,” Wilson said.

The support of a close-knit team influenced Waits in her decision to come to Western, she said. Waits’ older brother, Chad, swam for the men’s team from 2001-2005 and gave Waits an inside perspective.

Waits, who jokes that she started diving in a life jacket at age 3, said she loves the thrill of learning new things and getting over fears. Coming to practice also takes her mind off everything else.

“I use frustration and put it toward diving,” she said.

Unlike lifelong diver Waits, King is new to diving.

So new, in fact, the meet against Delta State wasn’t only King’s first college meet, it was her first meet ever.

King was a member of the U.S. Gymnastic National Team until an ankle injury forced her to change sports.

King said she never imagined diving in college, but decided to come to Western after talking to Benson.

“If I can’t do gymnastics, this is the next best thing,” she said.

Once she came to Western, King said she was drawn to the team unity and found everyone really encouraging.

“Everyone’s our age,” she said. “We have a lot of fun at practice along with seriousness.”

The women’s diving team trains up to 20 hours a week. Though young, they have high aspirations for the season, including qualifying for the NCAA Zone B diving finals in March.

Reach Laura Clark at sports@wkuherald.com.