The UCLA women’s dive team had a strong start to their season at the Trojan Diving Invitational this weekend.
Freshman Maria Polyakova finished first in the 1-meter springboard on Saturday while junior Montana Monahan got her personal best score 234.35 at Sunday’s platform event.
The road to being the 1-meter springboard champion was not a smooth one for Polyakova. In the preliminary meet, she got a total of 276.60, placing her name only third on the divers’ list. USC’s former Olympian Haley Ishimatsu was initially first with a score of 291.60. In the final of the event, however, Polyakova made a comeback with a score of 320.65, bumping Ishimatsu down to second place.
Sophomore Annika Lenz also improved in the final, coming from fifth place in the preliminary to third in the final. Coach Tom Stebbins provided an answer to what made the difference for the divers.
“Our focus changed. I think we talked about it in the break, which we didn’t do on the first day,” Stebbins said. “So if that is required, I’ll certainly do that every time, like a halftime speech.”
A Russia native, Polyakova competed at the FINA World Junior Diving Championships in her hometown of Penza in September, winning two silver medals and one bronze. Polyakova recalls the preparation for the championship being a very stressful one. On the other hand, she finds her UCLA debut this weekend a much more relaxed competition.
“It’s really different,” Polyakova said. “I don’t feel any pressure in me since the season just started.”
Freshman Ciara Monahan also made her first appearance as a UCLA diver, finishing 10th in Saturday’s 1-meter final. Glad about the result of her first college meet, Monahan attributes her good performance to the fresh training experience at UCLA.
“The training helped me so much,” Monahan said. “I never did weights before, and I have never used the Yates Gymnasium here at UCLA. Now I got a lot more muscle and strength.”
At the same time, Ciara Monahan’s sister, junior Montana Monahan, achieved her personal best of 234.35 on tower Sunday.
“I’ve done these dives, and I really just tried to let my body take over. I just put my emotions and all my thoughts in a box aside,” Montana Monahan said. “I went for it, I really went for it.”
As the oldest diver on the team, Monahan had much to say on the youthfulness of the team.
“I don’t even really think of us as being a young team. But I guess that’s what people say. We are all such great divers, and we are all so supportive of each other. There’s nothing we all can’t accomplish,” Monahan said. “We have a freshman get first place, so I don’t believe in being a young team.”