Mercer Island High School grad and former state champion in men’s diving, Beau Riebe will be trading his diving board for skydiving after he was selected for the Air Force Academy’s Parachute Team Wings of Blue.

Riebe, who graduated from MIHS in 2009, was recruited to the Naval and Air Force Academy dive team. The team performs at approximately 50 demonstrations a year as the only jump program in the world authorized to allow students to perform unassisted free fall delays on the student’s first jump without any prior experience. They perform at football games and in competitions. Riebe said it was one of the reasons why he chose to go into the Air Force.

As one of the 25 cadets hand-picked for the program, he’ll spend the next year working on his free fall skills to become a jump master and an instructor. Upon finishing training, Riebe and the other members of the team will be qualified as air crew members for the 98th Flying Training Squadron operations.

Riebe won back-to-back diving championships for Mercer Island in 2008 and 2009. Being accepted into the program means that Riebe will temporarily step away from focusing on diving.