Talk about diving into summer! Eleven-year-old Carolina Sculti came in first on both boards at Summer Regionals in Ewing, N.J. in June. Those two wins assured her a spot at Zones in Rockville, Md., where she won Platform, 1 Meter, and 3 Meter. It was then on to the Speedo Jr. Nationals in Knoxville in early August. Competing against the top 30 divers in her age group in the country, Carolina came in first on 1 Meter, which secured her a spot on the U.S. Junior National Team. She also came in third on 3 Meter and Platform.
By Robin Jovanovich
Talk about diving into summer! Eleven-year-old Carolina Sculti came in first on both boards at Summer Regionals in Ewing, N.J. in June. Those two wins assured her a spot at Zones in Rockville, Md., where she won Platform, 1 Meter, and 3 Meter. It was then on to the Speedo Jr. Nationals in Knoxville in early August. Competing against the top 30 divers in her age group in the country, Carolina came in first on 1 Meter, which secured her a spot on the U.S. Junior National Team. She also came in third on 3 Meter and Platform.
As part of the 24-member U.S. team, she’ll compete in the Jr. Pan-American Games next month in Medellin, Colombia. Carolina will represent the country on 1 Meter Springboard and 5 Meter Platform.
“It will be my first trip out of the country,” said the excited Rye Middle School sixth grader, who started diving at the age of 6.
Carolina trains close to three hours a day five or six days a week at the Greenwich YMCA under Lindsay Weigle and Dylan Korn.
What does it take to get to her level — first or second in the country?
“You have to have co-ordination and gracefulness, but you don’t have to be a good swimmer,” Carolina explained in a recent phone interview.
Practice may include some conditioning or a mile-run, but it’s primarily one dive after another. Carolina said her favorite event is the 3 Meter. Her role model is Linda Wilkinson, who won a Gold Medal in the 2000 Summer Games on Platform.
While a winning diver knows not to eat very much before an event, Carolina said a diver’s diet is pretty much anything, “because we really burn calories.”
This week Carolina is in Indiana preparing for the Jr. Pan Ams.
