Fifth-year senior Camryn Hidalgo has a story of perseverance and triumph. It starts across the country in Mission Viejo, Calif. Hidalgo is the second oldest of four siblings. She has three brothers, one older and two younger. Her household was loud and festive, which she says turned her into a fighter.
To expel the energy young Cami had, her parents got her started in gymnastics as a toddler. She continued in gymnastics for over five years before an injury forced her to make a difficult decision on her future and would forever shape who she became.
Transition from Gymnast to Diver
Hidalgo was in gymnastics through 2007. She became a level six gymnast before being diagnosed with Panner Disease in her elbow. She was instructed to sit out of competition for two years to allow her elbow to heal but the rambunctious young Cami needed something to do.
As Hidalgo was looking for her next athletic endeavor, she heard about the common move of former gymnasts to start diving. There was initial apprehension from her parents on committing to another sport but after a year of being out of athletic competition, Hidalgo took that first step onto a diving board.
“Gymnastics gives you all the basic technique of diving and because I was so young and hadn’t done so much of gymnastics, I was still very moldable,” Hidalgo said. “I knew to listen to my coach. I was fearless, willing to do whatever.”
Beginnings as a Diver
In search of a diving home, Hidalgo found the Mission Viejo Nadadores and coach Janet Ely. The coaching from the Mission Viejo Nadadores was strict but fit right into Hidalgo’s mindset. Ely tapped into the gymnast mindset of getting orders and executing them. After a dive, Ely would be waiting for Hidalgo to come out of the pool to ask what happened on the dive, giving Hidalgo an innate ability to self-correct.
“I will always be thankful for Janet,” Hidalgo said. “She prompted me to be the diver I am today. She took me under her wing and treated me as a daughter.”
Hidalgo proved dominant on the boards in her final years before starting high school. She won back to back Junior National Diving Championships on the 1-meter board in 2012 and 2013 while also placing second and third on platform. On the international stage, she competed at the 2012 FINA World Junior Diving Championships, placing 12th. This was just a precursor to her dominance in high school.
High School Days and Coming to Tech
Hidalgo attended Capistrano Valley High where she became a three-time CIF Southern Section Division I Diving Champion (2014-16) and a two-time High School All-American. In 2014, Hidalgo also finished first on platform at the USA Diving ATT National Diving Championships. This led her to compete at the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials, placing 12th in the women’s platform.
These results garnered significant attention from many top schools including USC, Michigan, Stanford and Texas, all of which she went to on an official visit. Hidalgo had one more spot open for an official visit.
“My friend and teammate Matt Casillas was at Georgia Tech and he told me, ‘I know you want to do engineering. You should come on a trip.’ I joked with him that I would come on a trip,” Hidalgo recalls. “At the end of my recruiting process I had one empty trip and I thought I would go to Georgia Tech and have fun with my friends.”
Hidalgo fell in love with the institute, the swimming and diving program and the harmony on the team. She ended up committing to Georgia Tech.
At Georgia Tech
During her freshman year, Hidalgo quickly assimilated to the team. She practiced hard to perform for her team. This hard work led to her having a good shot at scoring well during her freshman year at the ACC Championships.
Hidalgo was warming up for the 1-meter competition on the first day. She was performing one of her final dives when she didn’t reach the end of the board for her dive and didn’t push out far enough to clear the board, hitting her head. She stayed conscious, not realizing what had just happened. As blood spilled from her face into the pool, the ever-resilient Hidalgo thought, “Am I going to be able to compete on tower?”
Hidalgo was rushed to the hospital. The gravity of the situation had yet to sink in coupled with Hidalgo’s persistent positivity led to her not fully understanding the significance of the injury. The nurses lost count of how many stitches she had but had a general idea of the 8-12 staples that Hidalgo also received to heal. As teammate Henry Carman joked with her in the hospital, “Your face looked like Pangea!”
Even an injury of this significance would not hold her back, during the very next year, on the very same board, in the very same event, at the very same meet, Hidalgo took home the bronze on the 1-meter board. Hidalgo would bounce back to win a gold on the 1-meter board and a silver on the platform at the 2020 ACC Championships followed up with a bronze on the 3-meter board at both the 2021 ACC Championships and NCAA Championships.
As the Georgia Tech record holder on all three boards begins her diving denouement at the zone diving championships on Sunday, we will all know that no matter what happens, the champion, resilient, positive Cami will be there dominating on the boards.
