CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Jan. 29, 2026, Noah Westbrook broke King high school’s 1-meter diving record that was set 52 years ago. He scored 395.75 at the UIL 5A District diving meet. Westbrook’s reaction when he found out his last dive scored just enough was priceless.
"I've been working for that dive a lot and I've been doing it okay, but now I nailed it," Westbrook said. "I mean you're doing 2 1/2 flips and the DD (degree of difficulty) is very high, so it's good. It meant a lot. I was trying to shoot for that King record and I was hoping for those scores."
King’s 1-meter 11 dive record was previously held by Mark Brown. He scored 390.95 in 1974.
“I didn’t know I had any records until I start getting some notifications from some old friends in Corpus Christi going, ‘They talked about you on TV last night.’ I said, ‘What did I do wrong?’ They said, ‘No, no this young man Noah broke your record.’ I said, ‘What record,” Brown said.
Brown stills holds the school record for the 3 meter at King high school, but his favorite was the 10 meter platform at the University of Houston.
“I loved trying to control yourself in the middle of the air while falling and hitting the water," Brown said. "For me the higher I went the better I liked it.”
When Brown started diving he did not have a coach, but that’s when Corpus Christi brought in Charles Joseph Collins. Many know him as Trey.
“Self-taught by going to military pools, and I was a walk-on at UT. I had a great time," Collins said. "I wasn’t good. Noah is way better than I am.”
Trey’s passion for diving continued to coaching, which began in 1966 and continues to this day with Westbrook. Brown credits his record to Coach Trey.
“Just a few weeks I was a 1,000 percent better diver than I was my entire sophomore year," Brown said. "My very first year Trey took me all the way to the State finals. That was how good of a coach he was.”
Now for the first time in decades, Brown returns to Corpus Christi to meet his old coach and to admire the future.
“Well after just watching a few dives I understand why Noah broke my record," Brown said. "He looks very good. Coming back here and seeing all of this it’s great to reconnect with all of this. It really is.”
