Photo by: David Stluka
Peterson’s perseverance pays off in historic fashion
March 17, 2017 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Senior diver set to cap career as Wisconsin’s first NCAA qualifier in 28 years
BY KASSIDY FRANZ
UW Athletic Communications
INDIANAPOLIS – Last Wednesday, while Wisconsin's swimmers were in Madison preparing for the NCAA championships or enjoying the beginning of their offseason, senior diver Ashley Peterson was busy in Columbia, Missouri, making history.
Peterson managed to qualify for the national championships in the 10-meter platform diving event, which was the last event contested at the NCAA Zone D Championships at the Mizzou Aqautic Center.
What makes this historic, you might ask?
The senior not only became the first Badgers diver – male or female – since 2001 to qualify for the NCAA championships, but also UW's first women's national qualifier in diving since 1989 and the program's first-ever platform qualifier since the event was introduced as an official event one year later in 1990.
With only the top 11 finishers qualifying for NCAAs, Peterson secured her bid with a sixth-place finish on the platform, accumulating 507.80 points in the process.
"For my last dive, I hit the water and I came up and (Coach) Anton (Slobounov) is a really emotional person, so I looked over and he was jumping up and down and screaming," Peterson recalled. "It was really fun to make him happy, and before I left our last meet, (head swimming and diving coach) Whitney (Hite) said, 'I'll see you in Indiana,' so it was really awesome to be able to tell Whitney mostly that I did it because he was really excited, too."
It was a redeeming moment for the senior, who just missed out on qualifying in 2016.
"Last year, it was really close. I got 11th by less than four points and the top 10 went," Peterson said. "So it was really devastating and I was really bummed. This year, it was kind of like my biggest goal and my only goal to qualify. So when it happened I was really excited."
While qualifying for the national meet is a huge accomplishment in and of itself, the Highlands Ranch, Colorado, native has had a tough, uphill battle to make it where she is now.
First off, the fact that Peterson punched her ticket on the platform event is surprising, considering that the current facilities on the UW campus do not include a platform diving tower.
That will change when a sparkling new campus aquatic center opens in 2019 but, for now, she and her teammates travel about 1 1/2 hours east to Milwaukee to practice on the platform – something she's not allowed to hold her back. Through determination, as well as a specific focus on the platform, Peterson was able to put herself in the position she needed to be in order to qualify for the national meet.
"We go to platform on Wednesdays in Milwaukee and this year we really stayed on top of it and made sure to go every single Wednesday," Peterson said. "As well, I made a specific training plan with our strength coach (Billy Breider) and I tried to go in with Billy four to five times a week to try and focus more on platform specifically."
While not having a platform complex on campus comes with its own hardships, Peterson also had to overcome other hurdles as the blossoming UW diving program was just starting to set its own roots when she was a freshman.
"My first year, by the end of the season I was the only girl. So there was a lot of sadness in losing teammates to different reasons … and it was really hard to dive alone all of the time," Peterson said. "I would show up to practices and it would just be Anton and I."
However, since then, the diving program has done a complete 180 thanks to the collaborative efforts of Slobounov and Hite and currently features four women and five men, four of which posted seasonal scores high enough to join Peterson at the NCAA Zone Championships last week.
Although Peterson may be the only diver on the team stepping into the spotlight of the national stage this week, the senior isn't taking the opportunity to get her own name out there, but rather, to shine a light on her program at Wisconsin.
"I think I'm really just excited because it's going to help our program move forward in the future," Peterson said. "It will be helpful with recruiting because when you can get your name out on the NCAA stage, it will help bring other kids in and make our program better."
Things are already looking up for the Wisconsin diving team, as five high school divers signed their national letters of intent to join the Badgers in the fall.
These new signees will certainly have big shoes to fill in Peterson's absence, but big isn't necessarily the way you would describe the senior's expectations at her last collegiate meet.
She's not looking to set any lofty goals or break any records; rather, she's opting to stay grounded and just wants to perform to the best of her abilities in order to cap off her career in a satisfying manner.
"Honestly, I just want to dive the best dives that I can," Peterson said. "I think that if I hit my dives, I could be up there pretty high. Diving all has to do with the day of it, and I just want to have a positive attitude and have fun because it's my last meet."
Peterson will take on the platform diving event for the last time in her collegiate career Saturday at 11:15 a.m. (CT). Consolation finals will begin right after the trials, and the event final will take place during the night session, which starts at 5 p.m.
UW Athletic Communications
INDIANAPOLIS – Last Wednesday, while Wisconsin's swimmers were in Madison preparing for the NCAA championships or enjoying the beginning of their offseason, senior diver Ashley Peterson was busy in Columbia, Missouri, making history.
Peterson managed to qualify for the national championships in the 10-meter platform diving event, which was the last event contested at the NCAA Zone D Championships at the Mizzou Aqautic Center.
What makes this historic, you might ask?
The senior not only became the first Badgers diver – male or female – since 2001 to qualify for the NCAA championships, but also UW's first women's national qualifier in diving since 1989 and the program's first-ever platform qualifier since the event was introduced as an official event one year later in 1990.
With only the top 11 finishers qualifying for NCAAs, Peterson secured her bid with a sixth-place finish on the platform, accumulating 507.80 points in the process.
"For my last dive, I hit the water and I came up and (Coach) Anton (Slobounov) is a really emotional person, so I looked over and he was jumping up and down and screaming," Peterson recalled. "It was really fun to make him happy, and before I left our last meet, (head swimming and diving coach) Whitney (Hite) said, 'I'll see you in Indiana,' so it was really awesome to be able to tell Whitney mostly that I did it because he was really excited, too."
It was a redeeming moment for the senior, who just missed out on qualifying in 2016.
"Last year, it was really close. I got 11th by less than four points and the top 10 went," Peterson said. "So it was really devastating and I was really bummed. This year, it was kind of like my biggest goal and my only goal to qualify. So when it happened I was really excited."
While qualifying for the national meet is a huge accomplishment in and of itself, the Highlands Ranch, Colorado, native has had a tough, uphill battle to make it where she is now.
First off, the fact that Peterson punched her ticket on the platform event is surprising, considering that the current facilities on the UW campus do not include a platform diving tower.
That will change when a sparkling new campus aquatic center opens in 2019 but, for now, she and her teammates travel about 1 1/2 hours east to Milwaukee to practice on the platform – something she's not allowed to hold her back. Through determination, as well as a specific focus on the platform, Peterson was able to put herself in the position she needed to be in order to qualify for the national meet.
"We go to platform on Wednesdays in Milwaukee and this year we really stayed on top of it and made sure to go every single Wednesday," Peterson said. "As well, I made a specific training plan with our strength coach (Billy Breider) and I tried to go in with Billy four to five times a week to try and focus more on platform specifically."
While not having a platform complex on campus comes with its own hardships, Peterson also had to overcome other hurdles as the blossoming UW diving program was just starting to set its own roots when she was a freshman.
"My first year, by the end of the season I was the only girl. So there was a lot of sadness in losing teammates to different reasons … and it was really hard to dive alone all of the time," Peterson said. "I would show up to practices and it would just be Anton and I."
However, since then, the diving program has done a complete 180 thanks to the collaborative efforts of Slobounov and Hite and currently features four women and five men, four of which posted seasonal scores high enough to join Peterson at the NCAA Zone Championships last week.
Although Peterson may be the only diver on the team stepping into the spotlight of the national stage this week, the senior isn't taking the opportunity to get her own name out there, but rather, to shine a light on her program at Wisconsin.
"I think I'm really just excited because it's going to help our program move forward in the future," Peterson said. "It will be helpful with recruiting because when you can get your name out on the NCAA stage, it will help bring other kids in and make our program better."
Things are already looking up for the Wisconsin diving team, as five high school divers signed their national letters of intent to join the Badgers in the fall.
These new signees will certainly have big shoes to fill in Peterson's absence, but big isn't necessarily the way you would describe the senior's expectations at her last collegiate meet.
She's not looking to set any lofty goals or break any records; rather, she's opting to stay grounded and just wants to perform to the best of her abilities in order to cap off her career in a satisfying manner.
"Honestly, I just want to dive the best dives that I can," Peterson said. "I think that if I hit my dives, I could be up there pretty high. Diving all has to do with the day of it, and I just want to have a positive attitude and have fun because it's my last meet."
Peterson will take on the platform diving event for the last time in her collegiate career Saturday at 11:15 a.m. (CT). Consolation finals will begin right after the trials, and the event final will take place during the night session, which starts at 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
Diving
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