Moore Aims for Chance in London

As children, athletes in every sport often dream of one day competing at the professional or Olympic level.

Freshman Schuyler Moore dedicated much of her childhood and adolescence to the world of gymnastics in pursuit of that lofty goal. Even when she first hit the mat at the age of seven, Moore had that Olympic dream in mind.

But she never would have expected that eleven years later, she would be looking to compete in the Games in a different discipline entirely.

Moore hopes to qualify as an Olympic diver, a sport she picked up only three years ago when injuries kept her from pursuing gymnastics.

On March 29, Moore got one step closer after earning a spot on the South Korean National Diving Team.

“I had tendonitis, and then I grew over 5-foot-2,” Moore said. “Then it just became harder to be a gymnast. My gymnastics coach used to be a diver and encouraged me to pick it up. It was a rough transition, and I hated diving at first. But I knew I had to do something, otherwise I would go stir-crazy.”

So Moore dove headfirst into the world of diving. She began the process by training with UCLA coach Tom Stebbins, who introduced her to the sport, and she also joined her high school diving team.

While gymnastics and diving have their similarities, Moore still faced challenges in her transition from the mat to the platform.

“Gymnastics and diving both give you an awareness of where you are in the air, so in that way they are similar,” Moore said. “Sometimes [diving] hurts. Learning new dives and getting back up again and doing it again can be tough.”

“The most challenging part of coaching Schuyler was getting her to understand that the process is just time and repetition,” Stebbins added. “She wanted her improvement to come so much faster than her body was ready [for].”

But Moore learned quickly, and she earned the opportunity to travel to South Korea last month to try out for the national team.

"Her gymnastics background gave her all of the physical tools she needs to be successful,” Stebbins said.

To train, she got to Korea six days early in preparation for a meet scheduled at the end of her trip. But shortly before the competition was set to begin, the filter at the venue broke, the pool turned black, and the meet was then canceled.

Moore lost the chance to showcase her talents at the meet. Instead, the Korean coaches told Moore they would just use what they saw in her practices to determine whether she would earn a spot on the team. After returning to Harvard on March 27, Moore’s mother, who stayed in South Korea to find out the details, shared the good news.

“It was something that I had been thinking about,” Moore said. “It’s not so much how I place at this point, but being in that atmosphere with all of those divers will be good for me. It kind of hit me of how intense it would be. The ultimate goal for me would go to the Olympics. If I work hard enough, I feel like I would have a legitimate shot.”

Moore still has a lot of work ahead of her before her Olympic aspirations can become a reality. Her plan right now is to return home after final exams and train with Stebbins before her first competition with the South Korean team, set for July in Shanghai.

“She’s very powerful,” said Harvard diving coach Keith Miller. “She’s able to do difficult dives consistently. She still needs to refine them, and she hasn’t been diving that long. That makes it all the more spectacular. Most of these international divers have been doing so for ten or more years. With the more training, she’ll develop that consistency, and with that time she’ll be able to compete at that level.”

If she performs well enough in July, she will continue with the South Korean squad next year and compete in the World Cup in February. Olympic qualification for the 2012 Olympics in London is based on the results of the World Cup.

But improving her diving abilities isn’t the only obstacle Moore has to overcome to realize her dreams.

“I don’t know how to speak Korean...it was a lot of hand signals, [and] that’s how I got through it,” Moore laughed. “My summer will be diving and learning Korean. I’m going to have to invest in Rosetta Stone.”