Olympic Medalist and Chapel Hillian Nick McCrory Retires

23-year-old Olympic medalist and Chapel Hillian Nick McCrory announced his retirement from diving earlier this year. But he’s not putting the sport behind him just quite yet.

It wasn’t an easy decision to make after diving for 15 years, but he recently came to the conclusion that it was time to call it quits.

“It was really hard and a decision I didn’t want to make. I don’t remember not diving in my life. It’s always been a huge part of what I do and who I am so that was really tough and huge adjustment,” Nick says.

Nick’s decision was partly due to a degenerative knee condition that he’s been battling for several years. Eventually, the condition became too much to work around.

Nick McCrory in action!

Nick’s mother, Ana McCrory, says that his time spent training and competing shaped him as person, and she believes that his experiences will benefit him as he moves forward.

“It was a wonderful, overall, wonderful experience for him and one he’ll never forget. And its really shaped him as a person, you know, its taught him how to interact with other people from different cultures. As well as how to control his.. you know he was always such an active child, and he had to learn a lot of self control and diving certainly did that for him,” Ana McCrory says.

Nick is currently living in Indiana, where he is preparing for medical school applications and volunteering alongside his coach, Drew Johansen.

“Well I mean I love coaching and Drew knows that. One of the things that I liked about him as a coach is his technical approach to the sport and how detail oriented he is. One of the things that he does is watch a lot of diving videos to help become a better coach. He knows that I love the technical side of the sport and coaching in that way, so that was kind of how the connection got made,” Nick says.

Ana McCrory can tell that Nick is really enjoying helping out Coach Johansen.

WCHL’s own Ron Stutts in studio with Nick McCrory and his medal.

“He loves working with kids, loves teaching them, you know, all those diving skills that he knows. He gets great pleasure from seeing the kids learning things that he has taught them, so that’s been really nice,” Ana says.

Nick doesn’t know if this will lead to a career in coaching, but he hopes he’ll be able to stay involved with diving as he moves on to the next chapter in his life.

“I’m still figuring all that out. I do love to coach, I love the sport of diving. I don’t know right now if that’s a thing I’ll end up doing for a career. But whatever I end up doing, I do hope to stay involved in diving in some capacity whether it’s coaching on the side, or helping whatever program I am living nearby or various other things. I think diving is such a special thing that I always want to be involved in, in some way,” Nick says.

‹

17 Tar Heels Competing for Olympic Gold in Rio

With the Summer Olympics Games set to begin next week, 17 athletes with ties to UNC will be making the trip to Rio to compete for their respective countries. Former Tar Heel student-athletes will compete for the United States, Turkey, India and New Zealand in the games across track and field, field hockey, men’s and […]

Five Tar Heels Representing United States Field Hockey in Olympics

Five former Tar Heels have been selected for the 16-member team that will represent the United States in women’s field hockey at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil this August. Jackie Briggs, Rachel Dawson, Katelyn Falgowski, Kelsey Kolojejchick and Caitlin Van Sickle were named to the team on Friday. This will be the third […]

Chapel Hill Town Council's Adam Searing Not Seeking Second Term, Cites 'Heavy Lift' of Local Governing

Adam Searing, a nonprofit and health care attorney, described the Chapel Hill political climate as a major factor in his decision.

OWASA Details Downtown Chapel Hill Water Line Replacement, Major Road Closure

A significant OWASA water line replacement project is set to close parts of West Rosemary Street for roughly 18 months starting this fall.

Tech Company Announces New Corporate Headquarters on West Franklin Street

IotaComm, Inc., a wireless communications and data services company, will be relocating its corporate headquarters to the top floor of the office space at 200 West Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill. “We’re thrilled IotaComm is calling Chapel Hill home,” said David Putnam, the town’s economic development director. “Once again, Chapel Hill stands out among […]

Community Members Donate To Support Baxter Bar & Arcade Following Water Main Break

After suffering a water main failure, The Baxter Arcade and Bar turned to the community for support in the form of a GoFundMe campaign.

The 5:00 News - Local Government Meetings, Overdose Awareness, Chapel Hill Budget

The Hill's Andrew Stuckey presents the afternoon news. Included in this edition of the news, we check our local government meeting schedule, including the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners. We hear a story on Hillsborough Mayor Mark Bell helping prevent an overdose death. We hear from Chapel Hill Mayor Pro Tem Amy Ryan on the Budget, and more.

Chapel Hill Police: Missing Teen Safely Located

UPDATE: Chapel Hill Police shared an alert Sunday morning that Kaydin Shelton has been safely located. The Chapel Hill Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating a missing teenager. Police say 15-year-old Kaydin Shelton of Chapel Hill was last seen just before midnight Saturday night in the area of Legion Road and Ephesus […]

The 5:00 News - Drowning in Chatham, Chapel Hill Budget, State Housing Bill

The Hill's Andrew Stuckey presents the afternoon news. Included in this edition of the news, we hear of a tragic drowning in Chatham County near the B. Everett Jordan Dam. We also hear of Chatham County Commissioners plan to honor George Moses Horton along 15-501 through the county. We hear about the Chapel Hill Town Council narrowly passing their budget, a new housing bill going through the statehouse, and more. In sports we hear from UNC football safety Will Hardy, and more.

Chapel Hill: Budget Narrowly Passes, Juneteenth, Upcoming Events

Chapel Hill Mayor Pro Tem Amy Ryan spoke with 97.9 The Hill's Andrew Stuckey on Friday, June 20. She discussed yesterday's Juneteenth celebration in Carrboro, which was combined celebration for the two towns. She also discussed the town budget, which narrowly passed the town council in a vote on Wednesday. She discussed the challenges the budget process posed, and how that may affect future budgets. She also previewed some upcoming community events, and more.

›