The Calling - Diver Spotlight on Brittany Viola
By Kristen Fuhs

After finishing second and just missing a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team, Brittany Viola could have walked away from the St. Peters Rec-Plex disappointed. But the 17-year-old from Orlando, Fla. couldn't stop smiling after the U.S. Olympic Team Trials and answered numerous phone calls on her cell phone until an NBC interview on the pool deck forced her turn it off.

"I think I had eight calls in a row," Viola said. "I would hear the beep, switch over and then immediately hear another beep."

The calls were from friends and family watching the coverage on TV, but Viola, who rose from fifth to second in the finals of the women's 10-meter, also had plenty of support in the stands.

"My whole family and friends flew in, and I wanted to show them how hard I had been training," she said.

In Viola's family, though, training hard is second nature. The daughter of professional baseball player Frank, and Kathy, a horse breeder and trainer, Brittany's brother plays baseball in college and her sister is an equestrian and volleyball player.

Her athletic career began on a road similar to a lot of her diving competitors - gymnastics. Her Olympic dreams began early, as an International Elite gymnast at 10. But she retired from the sport at 13, because she didn't want to move away from her family in order to train. After gymnastics she played volleyball for a season, but when the season ended she was left without anything to do. She began diving off the boards during P.E. and the swim coach spotted her.

It wasn't long until she began diving for Team Orlando Diving under Coach Jay Lerew and dual meets turned into Junior Nationals, then Senior Nationals and international competitions. Viola won the 2003 Speedo Junior National Championships on 10-meter, just three years into the sport.

She was making people notice her. Brittany teamed up with 2000 gold medallist Laura Wilkinson on women's 10-meter synchro in 2003 and they won the World Championship Trials and placed fourth at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona.

Of the places diving has taken her, that city was her favorite.

"The pool is amazing, and I love the view overlooking the city," she said.

Viola continued her success in 2004. She entered the Trials after a fourth place finish at the World Cup Trials and third at the Speedo American Cup earlier this year.

Her confidence in her diving was soaring, and her father helped her with the mental side of competition. Though the 1987 World Series MVP for the Minnesota Twins doesn't know a lot about diving, Brittany said, he has been really helpful.

"He has no idea about diving," the upcoming senior at Lake Highland Preparatory School admitted. "But, he definitely helps me with the pressure situations. And he knows I'm out there to have fun and do my thing."

After Sara Hildebrand and Cassandra Cardinell won the women's 10-meter synchro, Viola knew that even if she did 'her thing' really well, it would still be tough to steal the only platform spot away from Wilkinson, who led second place Jessica Livingston by 42 points going into the finals.

It didn't bother Viola that her chances to make the Olympic Team were slimmer after Wilkinson and synchro partner Kimiko Soldati finished second though.

"I was so happy for Sara and Cassie," she said. "They dove awesome."

For the first time in USA Diving's history, only the first place finisher would be named to the Olympic Team in each individual event, with the other spot for one of the divers on the synchro team.

"I knew I was a lot of points behind Laura," Viola, who came into the finals 53 points behind, said. "I didn't expect to win, I just wanted to do my dives."

But after scoring 7's - 8.5's on her first four dives, and Wilkinson's scores of 4-4.5's on her second dive, Viola found herself within six points of first place, and the Olympic Team.

Even if she didn't know how close she was because she didn't watch the other divers, she knew she was diving the way she wanted to dive.

"I was calm throughout the competition," she said. "I don't watch, so it feels like a practice and I just concentrate on what my coach tells me."

Wilkinson nailed her final dive, though, and her 9's catapulted her to a 42-point win and an Olympic Team nomination.

Only four years into her diving career, Viola was not deterred. Instead, she was giggling and talking on her cell phone and smiling as if she was going to Athens. She definitely had a reason - the second place finish was her highest individual finish in a national meet and her third top five finish this year.

"It was so much fun, and a great experience," she said. "In four years I'll know what to expect."

In the meantime, Viola hopes to win the upcoming Junior and Senior Nationals. She brought springboard back to her training, after taking seven months off to focus on platform, and she plans on learning a lot of new dives.

"I'll be training hard over the next four years," she said.

Hopefully, she'll bring two or three cell phones to the 2008 Olympic Trials so people can congratulate her more quickly.