Silence overcomes the natatorium as Coppell senior diver Auttumn Ayakawa approaches the 10-meter diving board.
Exuding calmness, Ayakawa launches herself into the air. The lights above blare against the water below, but all eyes are fixed on her perfect series of flips and turns. Slicing into the water, she lands straight into the pool.
Ayakawa joined the Coppell swim and dive team in her junior year, determined to excel despite her late start. Embracing the challenge, her journey becomes less about a late start and more about relentless determination.
“Feeling like everybody else that I trained with had definitely started way before I did was hard,” Ayakawa said. “I felt very behind in my basics and everything and felt like I needed to hurry up and get new skills and dive as quickly as possible just to catch up.”
Despite these challenges, Ayakawa consistently puts her best foot forward on the diving board.
Her journey began at age 6, when she started gymnastics. The sport helped her build the fundamentals she now uses while diving, and her years of experience has given her confidence in her skills on the board.
“It is what inspired me to start diving,” Ayakawa said. “Gymnastics and diving correlate very well together, and doing gymnastics for 12 years, some past teammates inspired me to start diving, and I have been doing it ever since.”
With countless hours of practice, Ayakawa has achieved remarkable progress. She practiced both in the diving club GC Divers and the Coppell team to receive the training she needed to perform to her best extent.
“Auttumn has worked so hard in the last year to get where she is,” Coppell senior and teammate Emery Darrow said. “She’s improved so much over the last year, and she’s gone to so many competitions, gotten so many dives, and she does really well because she has such an amazing work ethic.”
Her hard work continues to pay off as State University New York at Cortland has recruited Ayakawa after her recent successes.
“To go from having zero diving experience to NCAA diving in two years is incredible,” Coppell swim and dive coach Jonathan Drori said. “It’s really important to her to be the best at what she’s doing, and I’m so proud of what she’s accomplished.”
For two years, Ayakawa has never stopped being enthusiastic. Her dedication and determination has transformed her into a skilled person with the mindset of a winner.
“Her work ethic is the mark of anybody who wants to be a champion,” Drori said. “She is the first one in, last one out, and she works as hard as she can. The fact that Auttumn is able to show up, stay focused, do what she needs to do, and really think about how she can improve the way that she dives is a huge reason why she has progressed so quickly.”
Ayakawa holds herself to a high standard to achieve what she sets out to do. Her competitive nature also adds to this vital factor of leading a team.
“I am a very goal-motivated person,” Ayakawa said. “If I have something that I want to achieve, then I am going to do everything in my power to achieve it.”
Drori has noticed that competitive athletes tend to become more accomplished.
“Auttumn, because she is so competitive and strives hard to be where everybody else is despite her circumstances, has a good chance to make it to the state level competitions,” Drori said. “She is a very humble person and does not love taking a lot of praise, but I love giving it to her because she really deserves it.”
Being a senior captain, Ayakawa motivates younger swimmers to dive and put effort into their performance.
“She inspires me,” Darrow said. “Her work ethic and determination inspires me and the younger sophomores and freshmen all the time. You can tell they all look up to her because she’s improved so quickly. I’m really happy to be able to experience this with her.”
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