Katie Malm’s first leap into competitive diving was unlike other girls.

The Oswego East senior, who’s done gymnastics for 10 years, first tried diving as a freshman for fun, an avenue to participate in high school sports.

Her mom had modest ambitions.

“My mom emailed Coach and said, ‘You can cut her,’ ” Malm said. “She said, ‘This is her first year diving, it’s not something she’s done before. She won’t be heartbroken if you send her away.’ ”

Malm instead has made a record-setting splash in the sport.

On Saturday at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont, Malm won her second consecutive IHSA state diving championship. Malm’s total score of 515.75 points broke the state meet record of 507.55 set in 2003 by former Olympian Christina Loukas.

“Christina Loukas, she took eighth and ninth in the Olympics. Those are big shoes to fill,” Oswego Co-Op diving coach Ryan Pentzien said. “You see girls start diving at 10, 12 years old, and Katie was a coin flip freshman year. It turned out to be a fantastic fit.”

Malm’s final dive that clinched the record was one of the highest difficulties on her list, a reverse one-and-a-half somersault with one-and-a-half turns.

“It was a big dive to finish on. I had been working on it a lot. I wanted to show it off,” Malm said. “At our first meet, I messed up the position. To end with one of my best dives, it was fun to see. Started to introduce it last year. I felt more confident doing it.

“Preparation and practice worked out.”

It put Malm’s name in the IHSA record books, along with record boards at pools at Hinsdale Central, Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley.

The gymnast-turned-diver broke the Oswego Co-Op program’s six-dive record her first-ever six-dive meet. She had the 11-dive record as a freshman, a year she took fifth at the state meet.

“Right off the bat she had the air awareness,” Pentzien said. “She came in as a rock star and kept going straight up.”

Indeed, Malm’s gymnastics background made her a quick learner. The easiest dives were the hardest for her to master.

“Those harder ones I was able to pick up easy because of the background I had,” Malm said. “It sped up the learning process of diving and eliminated some fears as well. I’m so used to flipping and twisting. Once I’m in the air, it’s not a whole lot different.”

Malm still does gymnastics. She’s in the pool Monday through Friday from 3 until 5 p.m., then goes to gymnastics right after until 8 p.m.

“It is never something that has held me back; it has helped my strength and flexibility and my air awareness,” she said. “Having that gymnastics background and training has brought me to this point in my career. It’s a reason why I had this success.”

Malm took fourth at state her sophomore year. The journey to the top of the podium was not without pain.

She twice had reconstruction surgery for the medial patellofemoral ligament around the knee before her junior year, an injury she sustained in gymnastics. Malm started junior year on the bench and couldn’t jump.

“Her development junior year was getting on the board, getting her strength, getting dives back, and she still had the ability to be a state champion,” Pentzien said. “She came back first week of her senior year, and just her strength was head and shoulders above junior year state champion Katie Malm. I knew we had a really good shot at what she did.”

“It’s everything to be able to do this,” Malm said. “That’s been the goal all season. Even the record book, our whole thing was I am completely capable of doing it. It’s in the judge’s hands and in my hands. The preparation, we have all done it. What can I do when I’m on the board when it’s that last dive at state? It worked. It was the best way to end my senior season.”

Malm is far from through with diving, though.

She was totally set on gymnastics growing up, but she’s found that diving is easier on the body and similar to gymnastics.

She plans to continue diving at Iowa State while pursuing a degree in elementary school education.

What about the Olympics?

Malm will never close the door on any possibility.

“From these past four years, I can really say that nothing is impossible,” Malm said. “It’s not out of the picture. I’ve already gotten to do so much in so little time. It’s not out of the picture.”