2008 Diving Olympians Nick Robinson-Baker and Jevon Tarantino on History of Hall of Fame – Aquatic Complex

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Photo Courtesy: Andy Ross

2008 Diving Olympians Nick Robinson-Baker of Great Britain and Jevon Tarantino of the United States visited the International Swimming Hall of Fame last week to reminisce on their diving careers and what the Hall of Fame Aquatic Complex means to them.

Robinson-Baker and Tarantino talked in depth with the International Swimming Hall of Fame Historian Bruce Wigo about their personal histories with the Fort Lauderdale pool (0:53) and their histories with each other (1:24).

Robinson-Baker and Tarantino competed in the same event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (1:41), placing seventh and fourth respectively in the 3m synchro event.

The duo also talked about how big of a deal the pool was to them growing up as kids (2:26) and watching legends like Greg Louganis compete in the pool. Robinson-Baker also talked about why Fort Lauderdale was such a big tourist attraction to divers (2:52) from not just the United States, but from all over the world, attracting the likes of Tom Daley, Fu MingxiaGuo Jingjing and many other great divers.

The City of Fort Lauderdale has approved a $27 million renovation for the pool and Robinson-Baker talked about what that will mean to the future of diving in the area (4:16).

Nick Robinson-Baker and Tarantino also decided to throw it back and jump around on the boards. They treated us to a Team USA-Team GB synchro event off the 10m platform (5:53).

  • Nick Robinson-Baker would come visit several times a year and train with Tim O’Brien since he was about 10-years-old.
  • Robinson-Baker’s last event in Fort Lauderdale was at the USA Diving Grand Prix, his synchro partner was injured so he paired up with Dwight Dumais (USA) to be able to conclude his diving career in Fort Lauderdale.
  • Jevon Tarantino was a Boca Raton native and dove at the Hall of Fame pool in Fort Lauderdale with Dave Burgering.
  • Tarantino was an NCAA champion at the University of Tennessee in 2004.
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