In recent history, Georgia Tech women’s swimming and diving has had their success at the NCAA Championships from some spectacular divers. The past two times the women’s team has scored at the NCAA Championships, it has been because of the diving team. When Tech scored in last year’s Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, it was with the help from two All-American performances from Camryn Hidalgo and Anna Bradescu. But what leads to this success?
5 Unified Athletes
The story of success for the diving team starts with the unity of the five divers. While Hidalgo and Bradescu were the top finishers, the entire team contributed to the success.
“The general support we have for each other is really big. We want to see each other thrive and do the best that they can,” Hidalgo said.
“At meets, we’re one of the loudest teams,” Kelsey Dekshenieks said. “Having your team behind you always gets the vibes going.”
“This year was really exciting for me because I was able to see so many people have such a big growth from year to year. It makes me even more competitive knowing my team is putting 100% effort into what they do,” Hidalgo added. “Seeing people do well in competition puts a fire under me to keep at it. It’s really exciting to be a part of this team.”
“The team here makes competing so much fun,” Bradescu said. “It helps taking your mind off of the things you are nervous about.”
“There’s a different level of motivation when it comes to doing something for the people you care about,” Hidalgo said.
A Dash of Levity
One look to the diving pool and it is quick to notice how light hearted the practices are and team is around each other. “I think the team is successful now and in the past because of the energy within our practices,” Hidalgo noted. “We try to keep everything pretty light hearted for our practices. If we have a hard training day, we’ll keep the mood up and joke around. Our team gets along really well and [Coach] John [Ames] does a good job of recruiting people who mesh well together.”
One Unique Coach
At practices, with megaphone in hand, Coach John Ames is a notable figure. Ames is the longest tenured coach on the swimming and diving coaching staff, having served as the diving coach since 2001. He approaches his team with the levity that leads to success, even bring them bagels and lox instead of practicing one day, taking everyone to hibachi before the first day of zones, and going to the movies if there is a swimming only away meet.
“It’s very easy to see how much John cares about us,” Hidalgo said. “That goes so far in how much you’re willing to do as an athlete. If you know your coach has good intentions, it’s a lot easier to get through hard work outs.”
“There’s no one like John,” Lauren Davis explained. “When he gives me a correction, I want to do it for John. We have so much respect for each other.”
“We’re John’s kids pretty much!” Hidalgo said.
Two All-Americans
With the pieces in place, the execution needs to be there to score points at NCAAs. That execution comes from Hidalgo and Bradescu. At the 2021 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, Hidalgo earned All-American honors on the 3-meter and platform while Bradescu took home All-American honors on the platform.
“I love training with Cami,” Badescu said. “I’ll be on 10-meter and Cami will say something that will motivate me and inspire me. She’s an amazing person to train with.”
“Anna works so hard!” junior captain Carmen Woodruff exclaimed. “It’s incredible. She gets right back to it no matter what. That speaks to her mental toughness. She’s able to bounce back if a dive doesn’t go well. It’s very impressive.”
“Whenever their dives are off you would never know from their attitude or face because they move on,” Dekshenieks added.
“I have a lot of respect for Anna,” Hidalgo said. “I know that I’m a pretty determined athlete but there are times when I get tired at practice and Anna is still on tower for an hour. This girl really goes at it! I have a lot of respect for people who put their time and effort into what they do.”
As we look ahead to the 2022 Women’s Swimming and Diving NCAA Championships, this combination of team unity, levity, coaching and premier talent will lead the Yellow Jackets to success.
