Grand Rapids’ Addie Albrecht dives to first Class A state title

Grand Rapids senior Addie Albrecht is no stranger to the pool at the University of Minnesota (U of M). For years she has made the over three hour one-way trip to the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center to practice diving.

All the hours spent in the car and in the water payed off Saturday when she claimed her first Class A Minnesota State High School diving championship.

"I’ve worked really hard," Albrecht said. "I’ve been taking my own initiative, I’ve been driving to the U of M pool to practice there in the summer and in the offseason to practice with the club. I’ve grown so much and just learning more every single day."

Her driving buddy on many of those trips was her biggest supporter, her mom Libby. She was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal lung cancer in 2018, then this past weekend was able to watch her daughter finish her third state tournament this time as number one.

Albrecht completed 11 dives with a final score of 440.25, beating the second place diver Grace Gerten of South St. Paul by over 74 points.

"Going into finals I already knew I had a pretty big lead," Albrech recalled. "I knew I just had to do a couple decent dives and I’d be okay but it was still a little bit scary."

Albrecht said she does plan on diving at the collegiate level, she’s just not sure where yet.