BELLINGHAM – Having lost more than 100 pounds less than two years ago, former diving standout Kim Robbins will leave it to his athletes to make the biggest splashes now.

That is, in fact, his dream. The 53-year-old second-year diving coach would love to see athletes approach the level of success enjoyed by cross country runners from Bellingham’s three large high schools.

“Oh, would that ever be great,” said Robbins, who is beginning his second year as coach of the girls and boys who dive for Bellingham, Sehome and Squalicum. “I have so much respect for athletes in our community.”

In June and July, he began working with local divers, ages 8 to adult, in a program through the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department at Arne Hanna Aquatic Center.

“That’s the key,” he said. “I was allotted time for only two days a week, but I’d like to make it a five-day thing in the summer and really gets kids interested in diving. I’d also like to get a little summer competition going.”

Noting that several Western Washington University students have done good work in recent years with divers but have moved on after one or two seasons apiece, he wants to achieve a consistency lacking in the sport.

He’s so efficient, he even had Amjay Screen Printing prepare four different shirts.

“I have red for Bellingham, green for Sehome and blue for Squalicum, plus a neutral gray when divers from those schools are competing against each other,” he said with a laugh.

A 1984 graduate of Western Washington University, he put out more than 150 resumes but the only physical education teaching offers he could find in the mid-1980s were in dusty desert outposts in Utah and Texas. He loved the Northwest too much for that.

“So I went to work servicing and selling fire extinguishers for AAA Fire and Safety in Seattle,” he said. “I’m one of 31 techs based around the state.”

He faced a big challenge two years ago – without coaching in his life, he had let himself balloon to something like 277 pounds. He knew that to have credibility as a diving coach, he had to get into great shape.

“I would tell people I was once a (standout) diver and they would say, ‘Right …’

“It took me five months to lose the weight and I’ve kept it off,” he said. “It was a program of 1,200 calories per day and one mile of swimming four times a week. There’s a lot of weight floating around in that pool! Now I’m at 170 pounds and I feel great.”

In the early 1970s, he was very much in top shape as a diver at Hinsdale High in the Chicago suburbs. In fact, he was a diver during the middle of Hinsdale’s storied streak of 13 state swimming titles.

“When I was a freshman, the Olympic gold medalist John Kinsella was a senior,” he said. “Hinsdale produced many great swimmers. I was a good 50-meter butterfly swimmer as a freshman, but they told me they wanted me to dive. But in Hinsdale, the (fans) would walk out when the diving competition began.”

He said “very good, but not great” accurately sums up his diving career.

“I was an honorable mention high school All-American,” he said. “Then I went to a nearby community college in Du Page County and I was second in the 1-meter in the nationals and ninth in the high board. I went on to Chicago State University in the NAIA nationals and finished ninth on the low board and 14th on the high board in the nationals.”

He got his start in diving in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), an island nation off the coast of India, and recalls bcoming a national champion at age 14.

“A U.S. Marine taught me diving there. I had to beat only one other diver to win the nationals,” he said with a laugh. “I was there because my dad was helping to build oil refineries.”

Last year, he helped three divers to qualify for the podium (top eight) in state competition. Bellingham’s Carson Darling, now competing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was fourth, while Sehome’s Natalie Vwich was third and Bellingham’s Jane Clark was eighth. Vwich is now a senior and Clark is a sophomore.

“I’m here eventually to put Bellingham on the map at state. I dream of seeing a rush for the podium,” he said. “It would be great if we could develop at least three or four good divers from each of the three schools and have a couple from each go to state.”

The small and generally overlooked diving community in Bellingham has impressed Robbins.

“I really like how supportive the kids from different schools are of each other, and how the parents are supportive here, too,” he said. “It’s great to see an athlete or parent cheer for kids from the other two schools.”

He says he stresses “safety first, fun second and results third.

“I just love the kids I’m working with and I love getting the chance to coach,” he said. “I’d like to coach for 30 years.”

If he can do that, chances are there would be lots of big splashes along the way.