By Frank Rajkowski, SJU Writer/Video Producer

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Considering where things were at just a few months ago, it's remarkable that Eli Grabinski is even diving at all.

The fact that the Saint John's University freshman has immediately established himself as one of the top competitors in the MIAC this season is more impressive still.

Grabinski suffered a fractured tibia in August that required surgery. The injury not only kept him away from a diving board this fall, but prevented him from even starting classes until the start of this semester in January.

But since then, he's hit the ground running. He won the 3-meter diving event and finished second in the 1-meter in his first college competition – a dual meet victory over Carleton on Jan. 15.

And last Saturday (Feb. 5), he swept both events at the Gustavus Adolphus Diving Invitational in St. Peter to earn MIAC Men's Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week honors. His score in the 1-meter was an NCAA Division III nationals B qualifying total of 438.75.

"It definitely wasn't the way I wanted to start my college career," said Grabinski of his injury which occurred when he was doing flips in the grass at a park with friends. "I actually tried to start classes when the school year started, but after a couple of days, it just wasn't working. So I just focused on recovering.

"But I've been back a month now and everything seems to be going pretty well. For the past few weeks now, I've been feeling as strong as I ever have."

Diving, of course, runs in the Grabinski family. His older brother is Jack Grabinski, the SJU junior who would already have had two appearances at the NCAA Division III national meet under his belt had that competition not been cancelled the past two seasons due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

He is a two-time College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) All-American and Scholar All-American, and already ranks high on the school's career performance list in both the 1- and 3-meter events.

Which means his younger brother has been hearing comparisons to him all the way through his own prep career at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School in which he qualified for the Class A state meet four times – finishing second overall as a sophomore (the same season when Jack, then a senior, finished in fifth place).

"I'm used to it," he said. "I dove with him all through high school and people were always comparing us. That's not a bad thing. Jack has been such a successful diver. It's kind of a compliment to be compared to him.

"I suppose we are kind of competitive with one another. We're like most brothers in that one of us always wants to outdo the other. He's always been a bit ahead of me. But that just means he's set the benchmarks that I'm striving to reach. He makes me a lot better because I see what he's done."

Jack currently boasts the top scores in the MIAC this season in both the 1-meter (269.80) and 3-meter (285.30) events. But he will not be there to compete for conference titles when the MIAC Championships get underway next Wednesday (Feb. 16) at the University of Minnesota's Jean Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.

That's because he left at the start of this semester to study abroad in Chile. That leaves it up to Eli to carry the family banner. He currently ranks second in the MIAC in the 3-meter (216.25) and fourth in the 1-meter (240.45).

"We weren't sure what he'd be like as a diver coming back from the knee injury, but it really seems like he hasn't missed a beat," SJU head coach Ben Gill said of Eli's performance thus far. "He seems strong and confident in everything he does on the board, which will only continue to grow as he has more time to acclimate to diving in college. 

"To be able to make as much progress as he has within basically one month is astounding."

For his part, Grabinski said he is not placing any expectations on his first conference meet.

"This is all new to me and I'm still learning what it's all about," he said. "I just started college diving a month ago. So I'm just going to go out there and try to have the best meet I can.

"I feel like I dive a lot better when I'm having a good time. And so far this season, I'm really having a lot of fun."