Glacier Peak’s Claire Butler claims state diving title

SNOHOMISH — At 13 years old, Claire Butler received some tough news.

Her gymnastics career was essentially over due to an elbow injury. All those daily hours of pushing herself in the gym — done.

Years later, that nightmare turned into a dream realized when she became a state diving champion.

Now a senior at Glacier Peak High School, the former gymnast won the Class 4A state diving title at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Swim & Dive meet Saturday at the King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way.

Her climb to the top of the podium symbolized years of hard work put into her unanticipated new sport, in which she became a four-time state placer and champion.

“The other three years, I’ve been on the podium and always had my eye out for first,” said Butler, who finished in the top five all four years of high school. “It felt good to finally, this year, win and be at the top of the podium.”

Butler, a high-level gymmast for about as far back as her memory goes, was diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans, a condition that led to a bone fragment floating around in her elbow. After surgery at Stanford Medical Center that involved removing bone and cartilage from her knee to be transplanted into her elbow, devastating news accompanied the 13-year-old’s difficult recovery.

“My surgeon basically told me it’s really hard to continue doing gymnastics after this injury,” Butler said. “It’s actually kind of a fun fact, but I can’t straighten my left elbow all the way now because of my surgery, so that definitely would have hindered my gymnastics career.

“(The surgeon) was actually the one that first recommended diving, because so many gymnasts go from gymnastics to diving.”

Once recovered from the surgery, Butler got back to work — this time in a pool instead of a gym. Gone were the crash pads and tumbling mats. Her new landing spot would be in the water.

It was love at first splash.

“I just really loved the fact that you get to flip around basically in diving,” Butler said. “And that’s what I really did miss about gymnastics.”

Butler excelled quickly and began practicing with the high school team in eighth grade. A year later, she placed fifth as the only freshman in the Top 15.

She continued to climb the podium each year, waiting her turn behind Grizzlies teammate Addy Farman, who now competes for the University of Nebraska after winning state titles for Glacier Peak in 2023 and 2024. Butler entered the 2025 season as the top returning placer and delivered with the pressure and expectations unable to sink her.

A new facet to the competition this year was that it was held on Friday and Saturday, with all the swimmers and fans in attendance. In prior years, the entire driving competition had been held on Thursday, with the swimming events taking over the pool the next two days. Butler enjoyed the audience, despite some extra pressure from the cheers.

“It was a little nerve-racking, just because I was the top seed and felt like I had all eyes on me,” Butler said. “But, I did also feel a kind of calmness because I had created my (dive) list in a way that my last three dives were ones that I knew were solid.”

Butler and 24 other Class 4A state qualifiers began with preliminaries on Friday. She led the pack from the start and held a strong lead with 259 points after the semifinals, ahead of Redmond senior Morgan Christian (237.15) and Jackson sophomore Timbre Grevenkemp (232.65). She outpaced them again with her three dives in the finals, finishing with 375.95 points. Christian held on to second with 346.15 and Grevenkemp placed third at 324.60.

Butler’s comfort level at state also comes from not exactly being a stranger to the King County Aquatics Center. She competes for Emerald Diving and makes the two-hour, traffic-hindered drive to Federal Way three times per week to be coached by former Olympic medalist Kelly Robertson (née McCormick) at the state venue.

It’s quite a commitment for Butler, who takes several Advanced Placement courses and volunteers her time. She’s also heavily involved in GP’s DECA program, and qualified for a DECA International Conference where she and her teammate won an award. She said she’ll choose a college soon to continue her diving career, with plans of studying either astrophysics or astronomy.

With a proven track record of turning broken dreams into greatness, anything seems possible.