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Central Catholic Student Takes On Unusual 2-Sport Combination

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Meeting a high school two-sport athlete is nothing new. We see it all the time, in all different combinations.

But rarely, if ever have we seen a combination like Riley Redman pulls off at Central Catholic.

"I don't think this ever happened before," Central Catholic's swimming coach Jim Skirboll tells KDKA-TV Sports, "where a diver has played football. I don't think in WPIAL history it's ever been done like that before."

Until now.

Redman ran for over 1,100 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior for the Central football team this past fall. But once winter came, Riley hit the water.

"It's so fun," Redman says. "I have dreams of flying, so jumping off the board; it's so fun because it's almost like flying."

Riley actually has no background in swimming or diving, and amazingly, says he can't even swim.

"I just doggy paddle back to the side of the pool," Redman says.

But Riley has proven that swimming ability is secondary to the ability to flip.

"I do Parkore," Redman says. "It's a series of flips and you run up walls and flip off walls. My friend saw me flip on the steps at Central and said, 'You should go out for the diving team.' And I said, 'Wait, we have a diving team?'"

They do, and Redman has quickly become its biggest star.

"Amazing!" says teammate Sarah Jobe, a junior. "He's doing two and a halfs, and some of us are just doing doubles and really simple dives. And he just throws really complicated stuff, and he's amazing."

Riley hopes to find a college that will take him as both football player and diver.

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