Sam Dorman reached the pinnacle of the sport of diving, standing on the podium at the Olympics.
“Winning a medal at the Olympics was everything,” Sam Dorman told Swimming World. “It is something you cherish for the rest of your life. I will hold on to that forever.”
Dorman won the Olympic silver in synchronized springboard in Rio in 2016.
Like all athletes, he then retired, and had to find a new direction – and passion.
Turns out, he is using the same passion, just in a different way.
Dorman is Director of Business Development for Duraflex International Corp., a major manufacturer of diving boards and other diving products.
“The company was looking for an engineer. They reached out to me. I was a little hesitant, but I checked it out, loved the place and loved the company. I wanted to test it out for a year, and here we are 2 1/2 years later and I am loving it. Now I am Director of Business Development,” Dorman said. “I have the sales side of things, the marketing side, oversee dealers and being on the pool deck.”
Duraflex has produced most of the diving boards around the country.
“The board has been the Olympic standard since the 1970s. It is aluminum and the box that keeps it stable. It is all riveted together. There is a lot of handwork that each board has,” Dorman said.
But the company is not only about the boards.
“We are currently working on a board lifter. That board gets in the way a lot of times with swimming and water polo. The safety aspect of that is important. People try to lift those on their own and it is heavy. The lifters will definitely help out the swimming world,” he said. “There is a lot of growth coming up the pipeline. We are going to try to expand the diving world.”
The more the company does for diving, the more pride Dorman feels with the company. After two decades in the sport, he is passionate about making strides for the sport.
“You will probably see me with this company for the rest of my life. You spend 20 years in a sport and know everyone in the sport,” Sam Dorman said. “I get to see my coach that I worked with at the Olympics. It is super cool. I am very blessed to have this as a job for what I do.”