The UCLA women’s diving team opens its season today by heading to USC to compete in the Trojan Diving Invitational.
This year’s squad features just four divers, down from seven last year, but still figures to be very competitive in Pac-10 meets and the NCAA Zone E Championships.
Junior Laura Winn headlines the quartet of divers after a very successful sophomore campaign in platform events leading up to this year.
With a second-place finish at the Pac-10 Diving Championships, an eighth-place finish at the Zone E Championships and an appearance in the 2009 U.S. National Diving Championships in August, Winn has set herself up for an even more successful junior year as the captain of UCLA Diving.
The team is most notably missing former Pac-10 and Zone E Champions Marisa Samaniego and Tess Schofield who graduated last year.
Joining Winn are three newcomers to the UCLA program: junior transfer Karina Silva and freshmen Maggy Boyd and Michelle Vale.
Silva, who arrives to the team from Miami Dade College, does not lack experience in international events.
Competing for the Spanish National Diving Team from the age of 14 to 18, Silva racked up eight Spanish national championships in platform, along with 18 junior national championships in a multitude of events. Also in her international competition history is an appearance in the 2008 FINA Diving World Cup while competing for Spain.
Boyd and Vale both come to UCLA after successful high school and AAU careers.
Coach Tom Stebbins, starting his 12th season as the coach of women’s diving, said the size of his team won’t be a factor this year.
“It’s a little smaller than we normally are,” Stebbins said. “But it’s a fairly average-size team.”
The Trojan Invitational runs through Saturday. All four divers will compete in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard competitions, with Winn and Silva also competing in platform.
Overall, Stebbins is very optimistic about his team going forward and competing in their first meet of the year.
“We’ve been training since mid-September. I think they’re excited,” Stebbins said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how they handle being in the situation.”