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Zack is back on track
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Taryn Zack hopes the third time is a charm.
The USC junior is making her third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships and she hopes to erase the disappointment from a year ago.
Zack earned two All-American honors as a freshman and had high hopes as a sophomore to improve on her eighth-place finish in the 3-meter and her 11th-place finish in the 1-meter event.
But after winning the SEC championship a year ago in the 1-meter springboard and finishing second in the 3-meter springboard, she did not earn All-American honors at the NCAA Championships.
"It was really exciting as a freshman because you go in without expectations," Zack said. "My sophomore year I put too much pressure on myself. I didn't come out as well as I expected too. So this year I'm really hoping I learned from that. I want to have fun and enjoy the atmosphere."
Zack with be the only USC female swimmer or diver to compete in the Championships that begin today in West Lafayette, Ind., on the campus of Purdue University.
A native of Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada, Zack finished third in the 3-meter at the NCAA Zone B Diving Regional on Saturday to earn her way into the field for the two events.
USC diving coach Todd Sherritt expects Zack to be in contention this weekend.
"She is much stronger as a competitor than she was the last two years," Sherritt said. "She used to freeze up and not dive as well as she is capable of. She is diving free and does what she wants to when she is up there now."
Sherritt said the dives she attempts are more difficult than what she would before. Zack is 5-foot-10 and has a different build than most divers, who are shorter and more compact.
"She handles her height well," Sherritt said. "She used to not have the confidence to try something like a 2 1/2 reverse twist but now she has no problem doing those. She's had to change her mechanics but she has adapted really well."
Zack has diving in her bloodlines. Her sister, Megan, won a silver medal at the NCAAs as a senior at Texas A&M. Her sister's influence spurred Zack's interest in diving.
Because they lived in a rural area in Canada, the family had to drive a couple of hours to find a pool where Megan could practice. Taryn, seven years younger, would tag along because she had to.
To kill time while she was there, Taryn would mess around on the trampoline and in the pool until one day Megan's coach asked her if she wanted to give diving a try.
It was a perfect match.
She never had to compete against her sister because of the age difference. There never was the sibling rivalry, just unbridled support.
"She called me the other day after I tried a really hard dive and said 'I never imagined doing dives with that difficultly,' " Taryn said. "She is very supportive. She has nothing against me doing better or beating anything she did."
Megan stopped diving competitively after leaving college but Tayrn has other plans. She competed in the Canadian Olympic Trials in 2004 and 2008 and and will compete again in 2012.
"I went to the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials just to say I've done it," Zack said. "But now I'm really looking to put my name out there. I want to be up there and show people what I can do."
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