Being a college athlete is no easy feat.
Trying to maintain a good GPA and a social life while practicing 20+ hours a
week and travelling on weekends is nearly impossible. However, Florida Gator
Emma Whitner has single handedly mastered this task. Emma is a diver for the
University of Florida, maintains a 3.87 GPA, made the Dean’s List last year,
and still makes time for her friends.
Emma grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and
started out her athletic career as a swimmer but wasn’t
too fond of the sport. After trying several other activities, she decided that
she wanted to try out diving at nine years old. Emma dove for a club team for
five years until she reached 8th grade and the thought of diving in
college entered her mind. In 9th grade, Emma knew she needed to
start training with the best of the best if she wanted to be recruited. Her
passion for diving led her to move to Orlando to start diving for the YMCA of
Central Florida where she knew she could become an even better diver.
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| Emma Whitner- A Floridan Athlete's Story |
During her time in high school, Emma was a
five-time 1A state finalist on the 1-meter, a four-time USA Diving Junior
National Championship semi-finalist, and was a co-captain of the YCF Diving
Team during her junior and senior years. Emma then committed to dive for the
University of Florida during the end of her junior year.
The head coach of Florida Swimming &
Diving who recruited and signed Emma was Dale Scholtz, who coached Emma’s
father during his time as a swimmer at the University of Florida. Scholtz left
to coach at the University of Arkansas the summer before Emma’s freshman year
and he was replaced by Bryan Gillooly, who used to coach Emma when she was in
high school.
“It’s funny how small the swimming & diving
world really is. The sense of community and friendship in this sport is really
what made me love it in the first place,” says Emma.
Emma’s dedication and hard work have not only led her to becoming a Division I college athlete, but has also made her driven and successful in all aspects of her life. Emma recommends that if anyone has a child who is wanting to get into sports, to consider joining a swimming or diving team. Emma says she wouldn’t be the person she is today if it hadn’t been for her diving career.
The story was originally written by Carolyn Carter -:) I am very thankful to her!
