NCAA Women’s Championships: College Career of Aranza Vazquez Montano Has Been Springboard to Global Diving Success
Now a senior at the University of North Carolina, Mexico’s Aranza Vazquez Montano is aiming for a strong finish to her NCAA diving career as she prepares for the Olympics. “Winning an Olympic medal would be my dream!”
When a diver claims an NCAA championship, it can often be a finale, something that culminates years of hard work.
For Aranza Vazquez Montano (the daughter of Juan Vazquez and Monica Montaño, and a native of La Paz, Mexico), it was just the beginning.
At last year’s Division I NCAAs, she became the first University of North Carolina diver to win an NCAA title, winning the 1-meter after finishing runner-up as a freshman and third as a sophomore. The very next day in the 3-meter, she won again, completing the springboard sweep.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Then it was off to the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, where she claimed her first international medal for Team Mexico. She won the bronze on 1-meter and took the silver in the mixed 3-meter and 10-meter team events.
Just last month at the World Championships in Doha, Vazquez Montaño won another silver team medal for Mexico.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
“It was great to be back on the international stage,” she said. “It was amazing, and I did well. It was great to put Mexico on the podium. I improved my results from the summer on 3-meter, and I was able to final and got seventh. That is big, and I was able to a score to qualify for the Olympics for Mexico. We just have to see how (Mexico) is going to handle it, whether we have a Trials or if I get the spot.”
Mexico has one of the best diving traditions in the world, one of a few countries where diving is as popular—or more popular—than swimming.
“The coaches play a big role. We have a good history in diving, and we all grew up watching those older divers do well, and it motivates you to be where they are,” Vazquez Montaño said. “They practice in the same places, and it brings an environment of wanting to be the best.”
With her final NCAAs and the Paris Olympics on the horizon, Vazquez Montaño realizes, “It is really important to have this experience (of Worlds and NCAAs) to know what to work on before the Olympics,” she said. “They are (major) competitions, and knowing how to control the nerves with a lot at stake is big.”
MENTAL FOCUS
As for her future, Vazquez Montaño said the key has been focusing on the mental side of diving.
“I have been working with sports psychologists this year with the extra pressure of the Olympics,” she said. “Once you do well, people expect you to do better. I am working on controlling my nerves.
“Two years ago, mentally I wasn’t in a good place, and that made me realize how important it is to be in a good mental space to do well. I have been recognizing when I get anxious, and I rephrase the way I am thinking. It has helped me, especially getting rest the night before.”
That is what she will focus as she attempts to defend her springboard titles at the NCAA Championships later this month.
“NCAAs last year was huge. It set the bar high for this season,” she said. “It gave me the confidence to keep going. Definitely (my biggest strength is) all the dives I do with a hurdle jump (when a diver jumps on the springboard with one knee up), so you can see the strength and rhythm that I have on the board. That shows when I am doing those dives and makes me jump even higher.”
Having her younger brother, Rodolfo, on the Tar Heels team also has been a huge boost this season.
“We grew up really close and it has been great. I enjoy practicing with him and having someone to relate to everything,” she said. “I love seeing how much he has improved. I am excited to what the future brings for him.”
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Vazquez Montaño has already been to the Olympics, but her goals are even bigger.
“The Olympics in Tokyo was big, but at Worlds last year, I got bronze on 1-meter, and that was my first medal internationally,” she said. “Winning an Olympic medal would be my dream!”