
Benson Boone’s diving career resurfaces post-Grammys backflip
MONROE, Wash. (BVM) – Grammy-nominated singer Benson Boone had the most-streamed song of 2024 globally with his hit “Beautiful Things.”
The world is flipping out over his viral music and acrobatic live performances. But many don’t know that Boone once captivated audiences at swimming and diving meets before landing his backflips on the music stage.
Boone was a member of the boys swim team at Monroe High School in Washington. He was one of the school district’s first-ever divers, according to The Dispatch.
Boone faced limited practice time compared to his competition because his high school didn’t have a dedicated diving coach. To make up for it, he sought outside coaching from Snohomish School District dive coach Marc Hughes.
In his senior season, Boone took sixth place in the one-meter diving event at the 2020 WIAA Boys State Swimming and Diving Championships – scoring a personal best of 348.50. Monroe athletics competed in Class 4A, the most competitive classification in Washington high school sports.




Benson Boone kicks off WIAA state diving at King County Aquatic Center this morning. It’s a great day to be a Bearcat! You can follow along on https://t.co/c3IPCjgR6T to see Benson’s results. pic.twitter.com/quWzVKqDv2
— Monroe High School (@MTownBearcats) February 21, 2020
The same year Boone competed in the state diving finals, he also starred as Buddy in Monroe’s production of “Elf: The Musical.” Balancing both singing and sports, he nearly embodied the role of a real-life Troy Bolton.
Boone graduated from Monroe High School in 2020 and decided not to pursue a diving career at the NCAA level. Instead, he enrolled at BYU-Idaho, a university that does not have intercollegiate sports teams. He attended the school for a semester before dropping out to pursue his music career.
Though Boone’s diving career didn’t extend beyond high school, the dedication and performance skills he developed in the pool are clearly reflected in his music career today.