Diver of the Month
Diver of the Month: Maggie Merriman
Apr 9th
JO3 Hot Shot group member, Maggie Merriman, is YCF’s Diver of the Month for March. Maggie was a member of YCF’s 2011 JO National Team where she was a two-time finalist in the 11 & under age-group. This year Maggie has dedicated herself to perfecting her line-up and working on her strength. She has increased the degree of difficulty in her lists for both the 3-meter and platform events, learning an inward 2 1/2 and back twister. Maggie competed in the 12-13 age-group for the first time this year at East Regionals where she qualified (on both 1 and 3-meter) for East Nationals. We look forward to watching Maggie continue to excel throughout the season.
Diver of the Month: Giovanni Villanueva
Mar 6th
March Diver of the Month: Giovanni Villanueva
Giovanni is a diver in the JO4 group. Over the past month, G has learn several new difficult dives and has been working very hard to increase his degree of difficultly and prepare for the upcoming Regional meet. Giovanni or “G” as he is known to the team began diving with Team Orlando Diving/YCF Diving when he was 13. Prior to diving, he had been a competitive gymnast for 5 years.
G is a Junior at Freedom High School where he competes on the Swimming and Diving Team. As a Freshman he was selected the Most Valuable New-comer for the team and this year he was selected MVP after a great season ending in a 6th place finish for the FHSAA State Championship.
Outside of diving, G plays the cello for the Florida Young Artist Orchestra. He has played the cello with this orchestra for 5 years. After he graduates, G will be going to college to study Marine Biology and hopes to continue diving for a major university.
Diver of the Month: Karly Smith
Feb 3rd
Karly joined us in September of 2011. She was a former member of Sunrise Springboard Diving in Cocoa Beach and decided to train with YCF Diving. She is 11 years old and from Satellite Beach. She is a 5th grader at Holland Elementary school. Karly enjoys music, painting, surfing, and trampoline, but her greatest passion is DIVING! Karly has made it to two AAU Nationals. Since joining the team, Karly has excelled! She has learned over 6 new dives in the past month. She always comes to practice with a huge smile on her face and ready to train. Her goals for her future are to compete in USA Diving and became a great diver and maybe someday represent a college team. But her biggest dream is to compete in the Olympics! We have really enjoyed having Karly as a member of our team and look forward to the 2012 competition season!
Karly in action
Diver of the Month: Nina Fink
Jan 2nd
Congratulations to Nina Fink, Diver of the Month for January 2012!
Nina is a JO2 and has been with YCF Diving since September 2010. She is a prime example of what hard work and dedication can bring in this sport!
Congrats Nina!
Diver of the Month: Tyler Aycock
Oct 6th
Tyler started diving in October of 2010 with no diving experience and has made his way up to the JO4 group. Over the year, he has learned a full 1 meter and 3 meter list and is currently learning a tower list, including 10 meter dives. His dedication to the sport is apparent in his attendance and willingness to learn new dives. This year Tyler competed in Spring Regionals, Summer Regionals, and the Zone competition, gaining more experience along the way. Tyler is also a National Level Trampolinist, placing 3rd at USA Trampoline Nationals this summer, while he was also training for the USA Diving competition season. We are excited to have Tyler as a member of our team and look forward to seeing him continue to grow in this sport. Tyler’s goals are to attend and compete for a Division 1 school.
Divers of the Month
Sep 11th
Rafael Quintero and Wallly Layland
17 year old Rafael Quintero came to YCF diving this summer from Puerto Rico in hopes to improve his diving and gain attention from college diving coaches to earn a scholarship. He arrived as a good springboard diver however he did not like the platform event as much. After training with the JO 5 national groups this summer Rafa began dominating his competition. He learned 8 new dives off the 10 meter as well as improving upon his springboard dives. The highlight of Rafa’s summer came at the JO Nationals where he claimed the boys 16-18 platform championship title. Rafa will be traveling to Columbia this month to represent Puerto Rico at the Pan-American Games. In the fall, Rafa has several recruiting trips to vairous colleges who are offering diving scholarships. Ironically after a summer with YCF diving, platform became Rafa’s best and favorite event.
Wallace Layland came into JO Nationals as motivated and determined as ever to take home the national title on the girls 14-15 platform event. In her first competition of the meet, Wally paired with Gracia to win the girls synchronized platform national title. During the competition, Wally pulled her tricep muscle making it difficult for her to hold her hands over her head when entering in the water. With her individual platform event the next day, Wally could barely warm-up for her event due to the pain from her arm. Through her determination, Wally was able to gut it out and perform one of the most impressive performances at JO Nationals. She not only took home the national title of the platform qualifying her to the USA National team that will compete at the Junior Pan-Am Games and a spot in the 2012 Olympic Trials. Unselfishly, Wally competed in the 3 meter event to a 4th place finish in order to help our team’s standings. Congratulations and best of luck to both Wally and Rafa.
Divers of the Month:
Rafael Quintero and Wallly Layland
Wally and Rafa at Junior Nationals
17 year old Rafael Quintero came to YCF diving this summer from Puerto Rico in hopes to improve his diving and gain attention from college diving coaches to earn a scholarship. He arrived as a good springboard diver however he did not like the platform event as much. After training with the JO 5 national groups this summer Rafa began dominating his competition. He learned 8 new dives off the 10 meter as well as improving upon his springboard dives. The highlight of Rafa’s summer came at the JO Nationals where he claimed the boys 16-18 platform championship title. Rafa will be traveling to Columbia this month to represent Puerto Rico at the Pan-American Games. In the fall, Rafa has several recruiting trips to vairous colleges who are offering diving scholarships. Ironically after a summer with YCF diving, platform became Rafa’s best and favorite event.
Wallace Layland came into JO Nationals as motivated and determined as ever to take home the national title on the girls 14-15 platform event. In her first competition of the meet, Wally paired with Gracia to win the girls synchronized platform national title. During the competition, Wally pulled her tricep muscle making it difficult for her to hold her hands over her head when entering in the water. With her individual platform event the next day, Wally could barely warm-up for her event due to the pain from her arm. Through her determination, Wally was able to gut it out and perform one of the most impressive performances at JO Nationals. She not only took home the national title of the platform qualifying her to the USA National team that will compete at the Junior Pan-Am Games and a spot in the 2012 Olympic Trials. Unselfishly, Wally competed in the 3 meter event to a 4th place finish in order to help our team’s standings. Congratulations and best of luck to both Wally and Rafa.
June Diver of the Month: Mya Kraeger
Jun 10th
Three and a half years ago, Mya Kraeger began her diving career with Central Area Diving team in upstate NY and it didnt take long for her to fall in love with the sport. She quickly showed she had a lot of potential at such a young age and directed her full attention to diving. Her dream is to earn a full scholarship to a Division I university and to become a member of the USA Olympic Diving Team.
Mya dives along side her twin sister Emma, who also proved to have a future in diving, and after seeing their hardwork and dedication their parents decide to sacrifice everything and move to Orlando to give the girls the best training opportunities. 
Mya has worked extremely hard since moving to Orlando and this past April her hard work paid off as she earned a silver medal on 3m and a 6th place finish on 1m at the East National Championships in the 12-13 age group. The following weekend Mya competed in the 1m and platform events at the YMCA National Championships and earned two national titles. Based on these strong results, Mya has pre-quallified herself to the Junior National Championships this summer.
Mya’s hard work and intensity at practices have led her to establish herself as one of the top 12-13 female divers in the country. When she does make time outside of diving, Mya enjoys basketball, scrapbooking, and Broadway shows. We look forward to seeing BIG things in Mya’s future!
April Diver of the Month: Lauren Gallarelli
May 5th
Lauren is a member of our JO3 competitive group. Lauren recently returned to training from surgury on her left knee. Since returning, Lauren has shown everyone her amazing strength and athletic ability by jumping right back in the pool full force. Within weeks of returning, she re-learned her full 1 meter list and is well on her way to re-learning her 3 meter list. Congratulations Lauren! Keep up the hard work!
March 2011 – Diver of the Month
Mar 2nd
Diver of the Month: Sarah Frangoul, JO3
Sarah is a member of the JO3 group. She is a junior at Edgewater High School. Sarah started diving at the age of 6 and stopped at 13. As a Junior she was a member of the Edgewater Swimming and Diving Team, qualified for the FHSAA High School State Meet in the 2A division, and finished in 6th place with a score of 372.05. Since the State meet, Sarah has relearned all of her dives on 3 Meter and is currently learning a tower list. She has been an amazing role model for not only the divers in her JO3 group but also all the divers in our program. Congratulations Sarah and keep up the great work!
