Following months of training, practice and rehabilitation, rising sophomore diver Montana Monahan is left with a concrete board under her feet, a 10 meter drop and just over a second of flight. She just has to jump.
“Your heart starts racing the moment you begin climbing the tower,” Monahan said. “When you step to the end of the tower and you’re staring down into the water, you realize, ‘Hey, I have to jump, I have to go,’ and you just jump.”
Monahan’s fifth-place finish in the women’s platform event at the July USA Diving National Preliminary Zone D Championships in Tucson, Ariz. earned her the opportunity to compete in the USA National Diving Championships from Aug. 13 to 18.
The event, held in Ames, Iowa, will showcase the best divers from around the country, including former Olympians, international competitors and Monahan’s collegiate peers.
“I’ve worked all summer on these dives, and these are some pretty hard ones to pull off. I’m just thrilled to be a part of the event,” Monahan said.
Despite her recent success, Monahan’s freshmen campaign was clouded by a leg injury that shelved her for most of her first season.
Now fully-recovered, the rising sophomore is taking full advantage of the summer season.
“My leg feels so much better and I’m thrilled to be back into it,” Monahan said. “The injury was a low point for me, because I was questioning if my leg would ever fully heal. But I really prepared myself, babied my leg and ensured I did everything I possibly could to get healthy enough to compete in the Pac-12 meet.”
The injury and Monahan’s relative inexperience, having only dived for five years, rendered her an unlikely candidate to qualify for her first senior national event. Her triumphs haven’t gone unnoticed.
UCLA diving coach Tom Stebbins said he sees the upcoming competition as an opportunity for the rising sophomore to reach new heights.
“During their freshman year we like to talk a lot about their long-term goals, imagining what they would put on their resume four years from now,” Stebbins said. “We want them to think about what they’ll be able to say they accomplished while they were in the sport and while they were at UCLA. It’s really cool when after a year or two they have to rework their entire career file.”
Rising senior captain Haley McNamara, who competed in her first senior national event before her sophomore year of high school, understands the quality of competition facing Monahan in Iowa.
Though the field will be crowded with divers who have been competing since early childhood, McNamara said she believes her teammate is ready to make a statement on a national stage.
“She can’t look at herself as inexperienced because she’s at the same level as her competition,” McNamara said. “Even though she’s only been diving for five years, she’s made the jump and has achieved so much in such a short amount of time that she has an advantage over people who aren’t expecting as much from her.”