Get to Know Luke Hernandez

Like many younger siblings, Luke Hernandez looked up to his big sister.

Carmen was a gymnast. So Luke was a gymnast.

Carmen switched to diving. Guess what Luke did?

“I decided gymnastics wasn’t really my thing anymore, so I followed after her, which I usually do with a lot of things,” Luke said.

The rest is history.

He’s been diving for about eight years now and has spent much of this summer on the road representing the United States.

After winning mixed synchronized 3-meter with Kyndal Knight and finishing 11^th individually on 3-meter at the 2025 USA Diving National Championships, Hernandez earned the opportunity to compete at the World Aquatics Championships and the Junior Pan American Games.

The 19-year-old Hernandez sees this summer as an opportunity to learn and gain valuable experience.

“I’m really grateful for both opportunities. I’m taking it as a big learning lesson. This is my first time doing big international meets like this, so I’m just taking in as much as I can and learning, especially from the people who have done this a few times over,” he said.

He and Knight finished seventh in mixed synchronized 3-meter in Singapore. He advanced to the individual finals on both 1-meter and 3-meter at the Junior Pan American Games, where he also won a bronze medal in synchronized 3-meter with Collier Dyer.

After returning from Paraguay, Hernandez heads into his freshman year at the University of Arizona, where he’ll be majoring in human performance and nutrition.

“I’m really into food, nutrition and fitness. I think I’m going to go to PT, chiropractor or dietician school afterwards,” Hernandez said.

Fitting for a nutrition major, Hernandez enjoys cooking and likes to try cooking new things.

He also enjoys hiking and being outdoors, and he’s looking forward to experiencing what Arizona has to offer.

The opportunity to work with Olympic coach Dwight Dumais was another reason he chose to head west for college.

“I’m really looking forward to having Dwight as my coach. He’s a great coach and I’m excited to see how much I can learn from him,” Hernandez said.