When Madeline Kline stood at the edge of the 10-meter high platform at the NCAA Championships last March ready to dive in the biggest meet of her life, it wasn’t somewhere that she had expected to be so soon.
For Kline, now a third-year at NC State, diving hasn’t been a lifelong passion. She picked it up in high school to stay busy after an injury cut a gymnastics career short, and the thought of becoming a college diver wasn’t something that she had until late in her high school days.
But after just two years with the Wolfpack, Kline is finding more and more success on the boards. She qualified for NCAAs on the platform last year after winning the event at the ACC Championships, and her scores are only getting better as she moves into the second half of her college career.
“I never expected to experience something like that, especially as a sophomore. Maybe as a senior if I was lucky,” Kline said. “I actually think it strengthened me of course, with my confidence on the board. I haven’t been in it as long as other women in the sport. I think being able to hit that level so quickly gave me much more confidence.”
That quick success for Kline is a testament to her work ethic and devotion, something that head diving coach Yahya Radman had nothing but praise for. In fact, Radman’s only “point of contention” with Kline is trying to get her out of the pool.
“She’s driven. She’s very hungry,” Radman said. “She really brings a drive to the team, kind of an unspoken leadership that we’re looking for. She personifies our program; hard work, getting it done, blue collar, punch in and punch out.
As much praise and respect as Radman has for Kline as a diver, he’s even more impressed with the third-year from Damascus, Maryland outside of the pool.
“She has the kind of qualities that you would want in any human being,” Radman said. “She’s the type of kid that I would leave with my daughters and be absolutely fine with. She’s the type of person that will check in over break and ask ‘how are you doing, how are the girls doing?’ She’s very thoughtful that way. She cares about this team a lot. She’s a very giving and selfless person.”
Those qualities in and out of the pool are what drew Radman to Kline when she was just a recruit in high school, and it’s paying off for Kline and the Pack at NC State. In both of her first two years with the Wolfpack, Kline has led the NC State women in the platform, 3-meter and 1-meter dives.
The opportunity to dive at the level she is now, at a Division I school with a rich history in swimming and diving, wasn’t always apparent to Kline. She was a late bloomer on the boards, not garnering too much attention until her final year of high school.
But as she became more and more comfortable and skilled as a diver and that attention started to come, the decision to pick NC State was an easy one for Kline.
“The moment I walked onto campus on my unofficial, I wasn’t even on my official visit yet, I felt the home vibe,” Kline said. “I felt like they wanted the most for me here, that I could get the furthest with the team and the staff here. The other schools are great, but there’s just something about this team that just draws you in. They always want to be better and bigger and that’s something you want to be a part of.”
The success for Kline hasn’t come just on the diving boards at NC State, but in the classroom as well. She was named to the All-ACC Academic team in 2018, despite a busy schedule that includes multiple practices a day and weekly trips to Greensboro to practice on a 10-meter platform, which NC State doesn’t have at home in the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center.
Working on the school side of things comes first for Kline, who is studying biological sciences to one day become a physician’s assistant. She isn’t sure about what her future after NC State holds for her diving, but her desire to become a PA is something she knows for sure.
Kline has another passion and interest as well, one that has helped her become the student and diver she is today; Tang Soo Do. The martial art is a family affair for Kline, who holds a second-degree black belt in the discipline.
“My family owns a karate studio. We do Tang Soo Do,” Kline said. “My whole family are black belts. My mother is getting her fifth-degree soon. I did it for most of high school with my diving and gymnastics. I have stopped since I got here, there’s just no time for it. It was a great experience in my life. I think it taught me a lot to go into college with and how to handle this sport.”
From diving to school to karate, there’s a lot to Kline, who has come a long way in just two years with NC State. She has an ACC championship and NCAA appearance in the 10-meter platform already, but Kline isn’t satisfied. She wants more for herself in the two years to come, and not just on the platform.
“This year personally for diving, I would like to make NCAAs again,” Kline said. “But more than one board, more than just the tower. I would like to final on the boards at ACCs, and by the end of my senior year have a full 10-meter list.”
