"I chose Arizona because I grew up in the Tucson community where everyone here supported me and on my trip I felt that same energy from the swim and dive team. Becoming a Wildcat felt like my way of giving back to the team and back to the community. I felt like I was becoming something bigger than myself." - Delaney Schnell

Sport: Swimming and Diving
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Tucson, Ariz.

Last July, Delaney Schnell, a rising junior on the Arizona diving team, did something no American woman had done in 14 years. Schnell earned a bronze medal in the 10-meter platform at the World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, becoming the first American woman to medal in the 10-meter platform since 2005.
 
In the process, Schnell helped the USA earn two spots in 10-meter platform in the Tokyo Olympics. The four-time All-American at Arizona had had plenty of success on the national scale, but the bronze medal at her first ever World Championship finals appearance cemented her as one of the best divers in the world.
 
Upon returning to Tucson from the World Championships in South Korea, where she was accompanied by UA diving coach Dwight Dumais, Schnell turned her attention to what was sure to be a grueling year of international competitions, hopefully culminating in the Olympics in Tokyo.
 
Schnell used an Olympic waiver to redshirt the 2019-20 season in preparation for a spring filled with travel. She took online classes in the spring in order to accommodate her incredibly busy schedule.
 
"I was supposed to be traveling all over the world, competing in World Series, World Championships and World Cup events," said Schnell. "So I was preparing and training, getting myself ready mentally and physically, and then I was only able to make it to Montreal for the World Series before everything else got canceled."
 
As an athlete training to achieve her ultimate goal of diving on the Olympic stage, Schnell's world was turned upside down in early March.
 
"Prior to quarantine I was practicing with the team once or twice per day," said Schnell. "It was usually 7 a.m. practice, and then home to get some rest. And then we'd have afternoon practice. We had weights three times per week. In between that, I was spending time in class or working on homework, or working on recovery.
 
"Once quarantine started, all I had access to was my house. I still stayed on top of all of my training, but it was bodyweight stuff in backyard and doing dry land techniques that we do outside of the water."
 
And then came the decision. The Olympics were being postponed to 2021.
 
Olympic Trials would have come and gone already this June with the Olympics set to start in July. Instead, everything was paused, pushed back a year to the summer of 2021.
 
"At first it was a scary thing because I redshirted for this, I trained for this; it really threw a lot off," said Schnell. "But then I started thinking that this is probably for the best, because at the time there were no pools open and it was really difficult for us to train. So, in the end, would that really be a fun Olympics? Would that really be a good experience because no athlete is going to be up to their top performance.
 
There would be some countries that would have opportunities to train, and then there would have been other countries that didn't have those same opportunities. And then also drug testing had come to a pause. So, I'm not sure if we would have been able to have a fair Olympics. It was a lot to take in, but in the end, they made the right choice."
 
So now begins the training for the summer of 2021 when Schnell will look to become Arizona's first female diver to participate in the Olympics since three-time Olympian Claire Febvay dove for France last participated in the 2008 Olympics. Schnell is trying to be the first Wildcat to represent the United States since legend Michele Mitchell won silver medals in 1984 and 1988 in the 10-meter platform, Schnell's specialty.
 
While she awaits what will transpire between now and next summer, one thing is for certain: Schnell will be ready. Recently, Schnell was able to use a gymnastics facility to expand her preparation. Then, a pool opened in Phoenix, allowing Schnell to return to a more normal training routine.
 
While on her strict training regiment, Schnell continued to shine out of the pool as well. In a turbulent 2019-20 school year, Schnell maintained a 3.833 GPA while majoring in psychology with a minor in speech language and hearing sciences.
 
A standout student her entire time at Arizona, Schnell has been a first-team CSCAA Scholar All-American both years she has been eligible. Her ability to excel in the classroom in addition to her full Olympic training schedule may be her most impressive feat.
 
"It's a lot," said Schnell. "With the Olympics come a lot of outside competition preparation, because usually you'll have World Series and World Cup and stuff. And those meets are pretty crucial leading up to the Olympics, because you want to be competing against those people and it can be really difficult trying to get to class and doing everything for school. And then you also have college athletics on top of that. There are days where I'm thinking to myself 'I don't know when I'm going to have time to do any of this.'"
 
But through it all, Schnell is able to succeed athletically at an elite level against the best in the world and academically at an All-American level.
 
"But honestly, I actually noticed that whenever I have break from diving, I actually procrastinate because I have so much time," said Schnell. So actually I think athletics really helps me stay on top of my schedule."
 
Schnell, a Tucson native who grew up training at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center, has plans to stick around in her hometown a little bit longer. Schnell, who plans to redshirt with another Olympic waiver in 2020-21, hopes to get into graduate school and be able to dive and train at Arizona all the way through the 2024 Olympics.
 
So if it all works out, Schnell, who attended Tucson High School, less than a mile away from the University of Arizona, will continue to train at the diving facility she grew up at, in the community that supported her from day 1.
 
"I chose Arizona because I grew up in the Tucson community where everyone here supported me and on my trip I felt that same energy from the swim and dive team," said Schnell. "Becoming a Wildcat felt like my way of giving back to the team and back to the community. I felt like I was becoming something bigger than myself."
 
In 2021, Schnell will hope to not only represent The United States in the Tokyo Olympics, but she will hope to represent the University of Arizona and the Tucson community on the world's biggest stage.