Swimming and Diving Anne Marie Kenny Spotlight

NEW ORLEANS - Tulane University sophomore Anne Marie Kenny took some time away from her busy schedule this week to chat with TulaneGreenWave.com about life as a student-athlete in this week's Swimming and Diving spotlight.

How did diving became your sport of passion?
"Like most divers I was gymnast for 13 years. I did it when I was little in recreational gymnastics and then I did it competitively. Around the same time, I moved to Colorado I got a stress fracture in my spine, so I couldn't do gymnastics anymore. The next best thing was diving. There was a club team where I had moved, so I picked it up."

When did you realize that you could compete at the collegiate level?
"There wasn't really a certain time. I didn't really think I was going to do it to be quite honest. In high school, I stopped diving completely my sophomore year and went to Mexico for a semester to study abroad. When I came back I didn't want to dive anymore and I just did it for high school. Then I got back into it and my coaches encouraged me to try again, so I tried and now here I am."

Tell me about your trip to Mexico. Can you speak the language fluently?
"I can't speak it fluently, but I can understand it pretty well. I can read, write, and speak it but sometimes I get nervous, so it's not fluent. It was a great trip. I am now majoring in Spanish and International Relations. I also worked at an immigration law firm over the summer, so I get to practice it. I met some of my best friends. It was something different that not a lot of people get to do."

How did you get into your job at the immigration law firm?
"My dad is an attorney. He had a friend that runs a law firm and they needed someone to help out over the summer. I do a lot of menial tasks, but I get to translate documents, help out with the clients, and go to court."

How did you decide to come to Tulane?
"I was looking for schools mostly for academics and diving was an added bonus. I looked at a couple of schools and someone mentioned that I should look at Tulane. I looked up the website and thought it looked really cool, so I got in contact and got a recruiting trip. I came down here and loved it. I was supposed to go on other trips, but I was like, 'I have to go there!', so I cancelled all of my other trips and told the coaches I wanted to come to Tulane. The team and the atmosphere are great."

What's the best thing about going to school in the city of New Orleans?
"There is always something to do. You're never bored. You can always find something to do and it's really fun to be with the team."

What is your favorite thing to do in New Orleans?
"Eat. I like to try all of the different restaurants."

Tell me about what goes into a training regimen of a diver.
"We do weights with the swimmers and then we have dryland outside. We have a diving board that goes onto a mat, so you can practice your dives outside. We also have a trampoline and belts which you get hooked into and our coach pulls on it, so you can do more flips than you would be able to if you weren't in the belt. We practice in the pool every day on one meter, three meter, and sometimes we will go do platform at seven and 10 meter heights."

What is the biggest misconception people have about divers?
"A lot of people think that we are swimmers. They don't really understand it because they think it's an easy sport and not really hard to do. In reality, it's pretty difficult to do."

What was the experience for you going off the 10 meter for the first time?
"I think I was thirteen and I told myself, 'you just have to go up and do it.' I cried. It took me probably three days. Then I saw all of my friends jumping off. It's actually really fun and now I can do more than jump off. It's definitely scary because when you look at it, it doesn't look too high, but when you get up there and look down all of a sudden, it's a lot higher."

What goes on in your mind when you're on the high dive?
"It depends. Sometimes it's completely blank, but usually you will pick one or two things that you're trying to focus on and repeat them to yourself. In practice, there's not as much thought that goes into it. You have to be focused in practice otherwise you'll hurt yourself, but during a meet your coach will give you two things to focus on and that's usually what I'll repeat in my head."

What's the best thing about Tulane?
"The people and our team. We are like a family. I haven't even known them for that long and it feels like you've known them your whole life."

Swimming and Diving Anne Marie Kenny Spotlight

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Anne Marie Kenny

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