Defying gravity: Life lessons on the diving board

Dive coach Lenny Larsen says the pool is his natural environment; on a ventilator he is lowered in for one of the first times. Larsen was injured in a trampoline accident at the pool three years ago. He has come back after the accident, and continues to coach diving.

At dusk, Louis Morales of Pasadena dives in as his dive coach Lenny Larsen keeps a watchful eye on him at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena. Larsen says, “Now was that that hard? That was spectacular. Now do it again.”

Dive coach Lenny Larsen, left, with his primary caregiver Carlos Lopez, 26, at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena. Lenny is judging an event he is holding for his divers at the pool. He verbally scores the divers, as his caregiver holds up the score.

Dive coach Lenny Larsen keeps a watchful eye on his student Joel Goldes of Oak Park as he flies through the air at the Caltech pool in Pasadena.

Dive coach Lenny Larsen gets a hug from Kelly Kerns of Van Nuys at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena.

Lenny Larsen soaks in the deep end of the pool at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena while a diver practices from the high dive.

Dive coach Lenny Larsen of Pasadena talks with his diver Luis Bahamon at the the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena.

Luis Bahamon dives into the pool at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena.

Adjusting the diving board over the illuminated pool, Luis Bahamon prepares for a dive at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena.

Tao Kwan is doing acupuncture on Lenny Larsen in his Pasadena home. Larsen sustained a C3 vertebrae spinal cord injury on a trampoline July 19, 2013. Later he was transported to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Two years later he is volunteering as a dive coach.

Primary caregiver Carlos Lopez, 26, left, keeps a close eye on Lenny Larsen at his home.

Physical therapy for dive coach Lenny Larson includes standing with the help of a team at NextStep Fitness in Lawndale. From left are Joel Wenger, Iris DePlalencia and Michael Torrijos.

To start the day, a primary caregiver shaves Lenny Larsen at his home.

Primary caregiver Carlos Lopez, left, and dive coach Lenny Larsen leave the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena. “I don’t let my injury stop me. Nothing stops me from pursuing my goals.”