Wish Dish | Share Your Story

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Diving Into The Unknown

(Written by Darcie O’Brien)

Two months ago I completed my four years for collegiate diving, and now that I am done, I have been looking back on the whole journey and what I have learned from every experience.

There were definitely times where I felt lost and there were huge leaps of faith involved, but it’s my story and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Growing up, gymnastics was my life. It was all I had known starting from the time I was 4 years old. Ever since going to my first of many college gymnastics meets in elementary school, my dream was to be a college gymnast. By the time I got to high school I made it to the highest level (10) and everything seemed to be on the right track to fulfill my dream.

However, as we know life doesn’t always go as planned.

When I was sixteen I started having problems with my hip and found out I had to have surgery to correct an impingement and reshape my bone. I was out of gymnastics for six months, but after that time of being completely inactive I went back in the gym with full force.

I was a sophomore at this point, and still wanted to continue on with my plan to compete as a college gymnast. I trained for the upcoming season and was doing everything I could to get back into shape like I was before my surgery. It was tough though.

Physically and more so mentally I just wasn’t where I needed to be. My heart just wasn’t in it. I was in denial that I didn’t want to do gymnastics anymore. That was really scary at the time because I had no plan B.

This is what I had worked for my entire life. College coaches were going to be watching me this upcoming season, and I was starting to have doubts on whether it was something I wanted to do anymore.

This was an extremely scary realization because I had been known as “the gymnast” my entire life.

In the meantime school was starting up with my junior year. One of my friends suggested that I join the dive team, and I liked the idea of doing a school sport, so I decided to sign up.

It was something to do in my spare time while I figured out whether gymnastics was something I still wanted to work for. I went to the first practice thinking diving was going to come easy to me because I already knew how to flip and twist.

I quickly learned that there were some major differences in the sports. I had been taught for the past thirteen years to land anywhere but my head.

Now, this diving coach was telling me to try and get on my head in any way possible. I came home after that first practice with so many bruises from multiple belly flops, back flops, and side flops thinking, “What have I gotten myself into?”

But for some reason I wanted to keep going back.

After diving for a month, I decided I was going to need to choose between the two sports. I eventually decided to give up gymnastics and stick with diving and try to follow through into college with it.

It was not an easy decision, though. I felt like a quitter for deciding not to do gymnastics anymore and giving up when I was so close to my dream of becoming a college gymnast. It was scary and hard giving up the only thing I had ever known. I was stepping into the unknown and into a sport that I had only tried for four weeks.

I decided to dive into the abyss with no idea if there was going to be water to catch me if I fell, but I had a gut feeling, so I decided to take the leap.

Going from gymnastics where I was competing at high-level meets, then to diving where I was struggling to even be a competitor was a scary yet humbling experience. I might not have been competing as well in my new sport, but I loved what I did and was determined to work my way up and qualify for big meets.

After several meets and learning more about my sport every day, I was making my way up. I was connected with the dive coach at UGA, and we talked back and forth about me joining the team. I was ecstatic to have the opportunity to join one of the best D1 teams in the country, so spring of my senior year I decided to sign on to become a diver for the Georgia Bulldogs.

Signing on to dive for UGA has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. However, it was not an easy path after I became a bulldog.The training became longer and more intense, and I still had a lot more to learn about the sport. I continued to learn new dives until the very last day that I spent competing for UGA.

There were more people on the team than spots for championship teams, and I worked every day to fight for those limited positions. Nonetheless, without the everyday challenges and hours of training I would not appreciate the fulfilling moments and spectacular memories I have made in the past 4 years.

Among my time on the team, we won 4 SEC titles, and we were NCAA champions two out of my four years.

More importantly than the titles that we won were the memories I will never forget and the best friends that I made.

Being on a team with people that were so passionate about their sport was incredible and inspiring. I was pushed every day in and out of the pool to be the best person that I could be, and that mentality and mindset will stick with me for the rest of my life.

In the midst of my hip surgery and coming to terms that my gymnastics career was ending, I was completely lost and scared that I had no idea what my future held. At the time, it felt like one of the worst things that could have happened to me.

I now realize that it was just the first chapter in my journey of diving and finding something that I was truly passionate about.

The main thing I learned from this part of my life is to not be afraid of change and to take risks to find happiness, and who knows, it might change your life.

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