Viola Looks to Defend Titles Heading into NCAA Championships
March 12, 2009
Over the past few years, Brittany Viola, a University of Miami junior and an Orlando native, has experienced quite the journey. Viola is a member of the Diving team at Miami and since joining the team just three years ago she has come a long way. She successfully defended her ACC 1-meter springboard and platform championships last month and is going for a second-consecutive NCAA championship in each later this month.
Behind every diver’s success, there is a story, a beginning to the hard work and dedication it takes to what Viola has been able to do. “The most important thing is figuring out what I want in diving because when I came here I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to continue to go for USA diving, or if I wanted to work as hard to win an NCAA championship”, said Viola
But when she met legendary Miami Diving Coach Randy Ableman, she shifted gears and recognized her true passions. “Randy gave me that room to decide where to take my diving. It was great to develop it on my own. With the ultimate goal however, he wants that in our hearts, not in his heart”, stated Viola.
With such a profound career, comes a lot of attention. For many athletes, that spells out for added pressure and expectations from everyone. Viola has remained a consistent force in the ACC, noting her previously mentioned back-to-back championships in multiple events. “I think the best part about this year is I really felt the swimmer support. I probably had just as much fun this year if not more than last year at the conference championship.”
Despite all of the support and success, an athlete, as Brittany said, must be able to develop on their own and have it in their mind and heart to compete. Viola has recently incorporated something new into her routine: faith. “Something I’ve been trying to develop over the last couple of years is a relationship closer to god and it’s been something that I’ve been trying to bring into my diving career. Just give my performance to him, and trusting in my practices and everything I know I’ve been preparing for.”
Brittany has recently been selected to the USA Diving roster to compete at the World Championship in Rome this summer. She will be competing in the 1-meter springboard and 10-meter platform events. The platform has been an event she has been known to have great success in over the years, but the selection for the 1-meter came as a little bit of a surprise for her. “It was funny to be picked for 1-meter. Platform was something I was trying to do to make the world championships and Olympics for. People would say that’s my event, that’s where they think I would definitely qualify. I just did it as a distraction to just think about something else for a day and I ended up doing really well.” Viola will compete with Terry Horner (Longwood, Fla.) in the 1-meter and with Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.) in the 10-meter for Team USA.
Viola was also recently featured in Sport Illustrated ‘Faces in the Crowd’. This was her second time in SI, the first being in 2003 when her and famous gold medaling Olympian Laura Wilkinson competed for the USA in synchronized diving. The first time, the young 15-year old Viola was in the shadow of the already famous Wilkinson. Now, appearing for a second time, her accomplishments are now very apparent to the whole nation. “I finally got to see it the other day. That’s just given to how many people see me as somebody to look out for. It’s really rewarding.”
The NCAA Zone ‘B’ Diving Championships will take place March 13-15 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Viola will attempt to defend her multiple ACC titles at the NCAA Championships at Texas A&M the following week on March 19-21. The 2009 FINA World Championships will take place on July 18-25, as Viola will take on the competition in the 1-meter springboard and 10-meter platform events.
With such an extraordinary wealth of talent and support, Viola has nothing but a bright and successful future ahead of her and will hopefully have the opportunity to represent the United States during the next Summer Olympics Games in London, England in 2012.
