Tianna Pasko, 18, and her mother, Alicia Pasko, started off as a team of two: one diver and one coach. Together, they established the swim and dive team at Orcutt Academy High School. Since then, Tianna has set personal and school records and secured her place to continue diving in college.
In 2011, during Tianna’s sophomore year of high school, she became intrigued by the sport of diving.
“My sister was a diver in high school, and then my mom kind of encouraged me to start diving,” she explained.
They teamed up to go through the process of talking to the school’s athletic director, getting approval from the school district, and finding a facility to hold practices. Tianna participated in three dual meets and five invitationals and placed third at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division IV Swimming and Diving Championships.
This year, she recruited seven more team divers, set the school diving score record of 433.4, and placed second in the CIF Division IV championships with a score of 350.5. She’s the first Orcutt Academy athlete to receive a CIF medal.
[newspack-popup id="53647"]Having her mother as a coach has helped her feel supported throughout her years as a successful diver, she said.
“It has its ups and downs,” she admitted of the arrangement. “When I’m at a meet, it’s nice to look over and see her standing right there, giving me support. But there’s times when we butt heads.”
So what’s the most challenging part of the sport?
“For difficult dives, it’s a challenge to just get off the board,” Tianna said. “But once you have it and know what you’re doing, it feels really good to complete it; it feels really accomplishing.”
Tianna’s highlight of the season was at the 2013 CIF Division IV championships, when she completed a reverse 1 1/2 somersault pike. When she landed without slapping—landing flat on her back—she felt a rush of relief because she’d never completed this type of dive and only practiced it once.
Despite her achievements, diving is only one of Tianna’s many passions. She’s captain of her high school cheerleading squad and enjoys dancing and singing. Proud mom and coach Alicia also coaches the cheerleading squad and said her daughter choreographed 80 percent of the routines.
“She does well in school, too,” Alicia added. “She has a 4.0.”
“4.1,” Tianna corrected, adding that her favorite subject is English. “I love writing poetry and stories.”
The senior has come a long way since first founding the team two years ago; with her energetic personality, she’s learned to maintain a packed but balanced schedule through constant writing and reminders in her agenda.
Tianna will attend California Lutheran University this fall to study psychology with a minor in legal studies; she has hopes of becoming a mediator one day. But for now, she simply looks forward to furthering her diving accomplishments as a college student.
“It just sounds so cool to say you’re diving for a college team,” she said, smiling.
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2013.