Sahuaro’s Diver Making A Splash

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Avery Miller, Community Builder, Cougart Editor

Ha’ane Guerrero, sophomore, has been diving with the only dive team in Tucson, AZ, Arizona Dive Team, and is excited about it. She practices at the Olympic sized pool located on the U of A campus – Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, with state of the art facilities.  Containing 1.1 million gallons of water, the pool is able to be split into two sections so both diving and swimming can take place simultaneously. The 10 meter platform is currently the only one in operation in Southern Arizona. In addition to the 10 meter, the facility has platforms at the 7.5 and 5 meter levels as well as spring boards at 1 and 3 meters.

Right now, Guerrero practices 5 days a week for 2 hours and 15 minutes, with the U of A swimmers and divers, and gets coached by the retired U of A diving coach, Omar,  who is also an Olympian. She has been on the dive team for 2 years and is working to compete in Regionals located in Phoenix, AZ, where she competes against athletes from Arizona. However for zone meets and nationals, which she is still working towards, she will have the opportunity to compete against people from all over the US.  Her favorite dive at the moment is a 104, which consists of a front double dive tuck.

Guerrero spills what she likes the most about diving, “It’s so much fun because with the sport you get to do a lot of flips and twists, and although you flop and it hurts, it can be kinda funny.” She loves the sport because you can practice year round and it is nice to be able to hop in the pool on hot summer days. Some tips she has for people looking into diving is, “Don’t overthink everything. Diving is a lot of fun,”

Right now UNLV University has been interested in the young athlete. Since she is just a sophomore she knows she will be looked at and hopefully scouted by some more universities in the future. She is traveling to New Mexico in the end of April to compete in a Regional meet.