Gabriella Russell '21 Recruiting Profile

    I started my athletic career as a competitive gymnast. After many years of competing in gymnastics, I decided to try something different and switched over to diving. It was a natural fit for me with all of my gymnastics training I had done. My coach, Debby McCormick, was very impressed after my first time diving and told my parents I would do well in this sport. She told me that her best divers are ex-gymnasts, as we have the ability to do all the twists and tricks required to be a good diver. I really enjoy diving and it has been a good source of competition for me! I competed in my first meet 2 ½ months after starting and have continued to progress ever since.

    I have competed at several meets and was even the very first diver ever in my high school’s history, earning a Varsity letter as a freshman! All of the hard work I have put in did not come without a bit of adversity. In 2018, I qualified for AAU Nationals, made it through US Diving Regionals, and qualified to compete at US Diving Zones. This is where my story took a slight setback. At the US Diving Zones meet, I misjudged one of my dives and hit my head on the board. I ended up with about 40 stitches in my forehead. That obviously ended my Zones meet and my opportunity to compete at the AAU Nationals meet in San Antonio, which was to take place later that month. Once my wound healed, I was ready to get back into the water and with the support of my family and coaches, I was able to regain my composure and got back in to competitive form. In 2019 I qualified and competed at AAU Nationals in July. I will continue to pursue this sport as it my passion.

    As far as school goes, I finished my Junior year with a 4.46 cumulative GPA. I have a full schedule this year with 5 AP classes. It will be a difficult school year, but I know if I work hard and stay focused, I will continue to have academic success. When I’m not diving or studying, I like to spend time with my family and friends, play with my dogs, read and do charity work. I am an active member of National Charity League and have earned the Gold and Silver Presidential Service award over the past two years respectively.

  I was only able to compete in 2 meets prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic in late February 2020. All pools were closed starting in early March. I was unable to get back in the water until July 2020. During my time out of the water, I remained diligent with my team doing Dryland Training, Pilates, Weight training (until they closed) and Biking to keep my strength and flexibility going so I would be ready when pool time became available.

You can see my videos on my youtube.com channel in addition to here on NCSA.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk2rLuFlJjpJSKQoJ887zlg?view_as=subscriber