Steve Griffith was a bit intimidated by Seth Vallejos.

Griffith first met Vallejos in 2009 at the start of swim and dive season at the Covington Aquatic Center. Both had turned out for the Tahoma boys swim and dive team.

“He was good at diving, better than I was, so I was kind of intimidated but at the same time he goofed off so he wasn’t scary,” Griffith said. “I just remember he had really good form in diving and that inspired me to try and get better. It was his first year and he was already better than me.”

Ben Price, who had known Vallejos through gymnastics, started diving with Tahoma last year as well.

“I was excited when he came (to the team) and I was also like, ‘Oh, crap, now he’s going to surpass me,’ because that’s what he was starting to do in gymnastics,” Price said. “He was good at both. He was good at a lot of things.”

Price, a sophomore, thinks Vallejos could be diving at the state championship meet this weekend at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way with him.

Instead the Bears swim and dive squad has been coping with Vallejos’ death this season. The freshman committed suicide on March 1, 2010, not long after his first season with the team ended.

It was a blow to the team, both as competitors and as friends, explained head coach Kati Stanford.

“Seth, he brought energy to the team,” Stanford said. “I remember Seth as a fun, energetic young man who was here to have a good time.”

Stanford said the team has grown since Vallejos’ death, but it hasn’t been easy.

She learned about it through a text message.

“I went to the office to make sure that text message was accurate and once I did find out it was accurate, I left the school to go and find Pat, because I didn’t want Pat to find out any other way,” Stanford said.

Pat Patterson is the dive coach for Tahoma as well as Kentlake. He also works for the city of Covington and on the day the news spread he was at Covington City Hall.

Stanford said she and Patterson decided to call a meeting with the team so they could talk to the boys.

Griffith, a junior, said he had no idea Vallejos had trouble in his life and didn’t suspect he’d commit suicide.

“I found out in science because one of his really good friends was in my class,” Griffith said. “He got a phone call and he started crying. He always seemed happy in dive. I never knew he had troubles.”

Price’s mom works at the gym where he and Vallejos participated in gymnastics.

“They were the first to find out,” Price said. “I knew he’d been through a lot of trouble because I’d been with him (in gymnastics) for a long time. But, when he came to dive I thought he was way better. I didn’t know what to believe because it just didn’t seem like him.”

Patterson said Vallejos was very determined and “he showed a lot of improvement and persistence last year.”

During his 30 year career as a coach, Patterson said, he has coached hundreds of swimmers and divers.

“This has had the largest impact on me,” he said. “But, I also think it brought the group of kids that dove together like a family.”

When Patterson got the news from Stanford, he left work with the blessing of the city’s Parks and Recreation Director Scott Thomas, and headed home.

“I got as far as Lake Meridian and parked my car and just walked for I don’t know how long,” Patterson said. “It’s just not supposed to happen that way. Sometimes we just underestimate the impact athletes have on coaches.”

When he and Stanford met with the team they talked about what happened, how they felt about it, and they listed off a number of attributes that Vallejos exemplified for an award they will give out this year in his name.

Among his many traits was a sense of adventure.

Patterson explained that Vallejos was one of a group of divers who would try anything.

Vallejos was fearless on the diving board, Griffith said.

“I just remember he had really good form in diving,” Griffith said. “That inspired me to try and get better. He always tried hard at dives even if he flopped.”

Stanford described Vallejos as a focused diver.

But, he was also known around the pool deck for his sense of humor.

Griffith said he was often playing around during practice, in between dives, of course.

Price said Vallejos was a joker who added levity to time at the pool.

“He basically greeted everyone with a smile,” Price said. “A lot of times he would just be goofing off. One time, he grabbed a pipe from inside the cabinet and started playing it like a trumpet. It made diving way more fun, less serious.”

Stanford was on the wet side of one of Vallejos’ practical jokes.

She was going through a harmonics drill using a PVC pipe to help the swimmers improve their skills in the butterfly stroke.

“All of a sudden, this water kept hitting me,” Stanford said. “I could not figure out for the life of me where this water was coming from but everybody was laughing. I looked over and he was hanging (from the edge of the pool) by his fingernails.”

Vallejos was armed with a three foot long piece of PVC pipe. He would go under water, Stanford recalled, suck in water through the pipe then aim and hit her with a stream then dip back under the water.

While his humor helped keep practice fun and even silly at times, it was Vallejos’ work ethic and willingness to throw any kind of dive that inspired Griffith and Price.

“Whenever I feel like I can’t do a certain dive… I just remember I want to do whatever I can to better myself,” Griffith said. “I want to try harder because wouldn’t give up on stuff when he had trouble doing a dive. I started doing that last year and I’ve continued doing that this year. It’s a good work ethic and a good reminder of him.”

And while there have been times it’s been tough for Price, it’s gotten better as the season has progressed.

“In my head a lot of what I am doing is for him,” Price said. “He probably could have easily done this by now, been at this level, so in my mind I’m doing it for him. It’s kind of my motivation.”

Stanford said the team has taken away good from Vallejos’ death.

“This year the team has been a lot more focused,” she said. “They have been a lot more of a close knit group. The divers and the swimmers know each other. They’ve grown from Seth passing away and realizing that they need to communicate with each other and they need to help each other.”

This weekend Vallejos will be providing the inspiration for the Tahoma boys swim and dive team.