No. 33: Delaney Schnell

Rosenblatt said...

The details: Schnell is entering her freshman season as one of the most highly regarded recruits to join Arizona’s diving program in program history. Schnell — who started her prep career at Tucson High before switching to Arizona Connection Academy, an online school — is originally from Michigan and initially had planned to attend college in the Midwest, also considering Purdue before deciding that Arizona was the right fit because of the proximity to her family, the program’s history and the presence of her chosen major, psychology. Perhaps even more than all of that, though, Schnell will get to compete for UA coach Omar Ojeda, who has trained Schnell for the last three years.

“That’s very helpful because for any diver when they transition to college, they have to transition to new training programs, but I’m already familiar with that,” Schnell said. “That’s good because I won’t have to sit there and take that time to get used to everything, get used to his coaching methods, all that.”

The numbers: Schnell hasn’t finished outside of the top five in any event dating to 2015, when she finished in seventh in the preliminary quarterfinal of the 21st Fina Diving Grand Prix. Most recently, Schnell finished with a score of 963.70 at the USA Diving FINA World Championship Trials, good for second, which qualified Schnell for a spot on Team USA for the upcoming World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Schnell flies out for the competition — which will take place from July 14-22 — on Wednesday.

The value: Arizona’s most recent diving star was Samantha Pickens, who won two NCAA titles, one Pac-12 title and two Pac-12 Diver of the Year awards from 2012-15. Schnell has the ability to put Arizona’s diving program amongst the nation’s best, and as quickly as her freshman season.

“She is very talented, which is why it’s fundamental to take everything step by step … because if we don’t, she won’t reach her potential,” Ojeda said. “I am positive she will make a huge impact.”

Why Schnell? Schnell enters Arizona with high expectations, and already is aspiring to lofty goals. Such as this one — Schnell wants to win NCAA championships all four years she’s in college. Only one diver — Florida’s Megan Neyer — won titles four years in a row, and Neyer did it in two separate events. Only two others have won titles in three different years. Beyond college, Schnell has aspirations for the 2020 Olympics.

“We have been planning and programming her to be at her 100 percent for Tokyo in 2020,” Ojeda said. “But many things will come before that.”

Proof she’s good: It’s a lengthy list, but Schnell’s most notable accomplishments include two Junior World Championship titles, a sixth-place finish at the U.S. Olympic trials in 2016 and she’s represented the United States at the Pan American Games. Most recently, Schnell had an impressive — and intense — showing at those World Championship trials. There, Schnell entered the finals trailing Tarrin Gilliland by 8.55 points for a spot on the national team. Heading into the final round, Schnell narrowed the deficit to 1.55 points and then dove first, scoring 81.6 points while Gilliland followed by scoring 80 points, making up the difference to push Schnell into second place and to the World Championships.

“That was pretty crazy because we were only a point away going into the last dive,” Schnell said. Qualifying with that close of a lead was pretty crazy.”

What Schnell can accomplish: Beyond her lofty national championship goals — which, of course, would be a remarkable accomplishment as a freshman — Schnell can also help bring the Wildcats to relevance in the Pac-12 with a Pac-12 title. Schnell is also the presumptive favorite for the conference’s diving freshman of the year award, previously won at Arizona only by Michal Bower in 2014 and Mary Yarrison in 2004.

Coachspeak: “Besides her natural talent, she understands the process, what we need to make it (the Olympics) happen — skills, drills, technique, time, hard work at dry land, water inside and outside the pool…she will do what ever it takes to make it happen and also understands that the time will come. This doesn’t happen overnight, and she knows she still has a lot to learn.” — Ojeda

She said it: “I honestly don’t have that many goals for it (World Championships) because I don’t know what to expect. For me I usually dive better when I just go in and try to have fun and enjoy it rather than trying to expect something out of it. For me it’s just to see where I’m at with all my competitors.”

How Schnell performed: Schnell made her presence known at UA. She was the top diver in the one-meter, three-meter and the platform. In the three-meter and the platform, Schnell took first place in the Pac-12 Championships. Schnell became just the third Wildcat in history to win Pac-12 newcomer/freshman of the year, joining Michal Bower (2014) and Mary Yarrison (2004). Olympics in 2020 is almost a guarantee at this rate.