Meet Melbourne area diver Elle Jacobsen
MELBOURNE, Fla. — Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy senior, Elle Jacobsen, recently committed to attend Davidson College. Diving in a D1 collegiate program has always been one of Elle鈥檚 dreams and she couldn鈥檛 be more excited for her new adventure!
The seventeen-year-old has been diving for seven years and has been on the Osprey Zap Diving Club Team as well as her high school鈥� swim and dive team. In addition to diving, she has also participated in golf and swimming.
What Elle loves most about this sport is the adrenaline rush that you get each time you throw a dive. 鈥淭his is the main reason I left swimming to become a diver,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 also love the people. Diving is a small sport; therefore, you know other divers from around the county and see them often.鈥�
Elle says her biggest challenge in diving is dealing with fear. 鈥淲hen I try a new dive, there is often a fear of smacking the water or hurting yourself, especially off the higher boards,鈥� she explains. 鈥淪ome techniques I utilize to help me manage this fear is having my coach count down from three, while I am on the board. I also tell myself to just get on the board and throw the dive. The less I think about it, the better. Especially when I remember how happy I feel once I have completed it.鈥�
Among the countless advice and motivation Elle has received over the years in her sport, she holds high value in the words of her current club coach, Jim Kelly, who always tells her that the hard work is done and to just be her normal diving self during meets. This always helps calm her nerves, because she is reminded that the hard work of preparing to do well is already done. Because of this release of pressure, she is able to perform better.
Elle recalls a time when she did the incorrect dive at Nationals in California when she was 14. She had recently learned a new dive and was super nervous to compete it, and after she dove she realized it wasn鈥檛 the right one. In total shock and receiving zeroes and a failed dive, she knew she had more dives to compete so, instead of letting that get her down, she focused on those and tried to let go of her mistake. 鈥淚 ended up finishing and missed the qualification for finals by just a few points!鈥� she states. 鈥淓ven though I didn鈥檛 make it, I was happy with my performance because I didn鈥檛 let this huge mistake ruin the rest of the meet.鈥�
Before each meet, Elle likes to jam out to music in the car to calm her nerves. During her meet, she tries to keep her body moving as well as chat with friends. When she was younger, she had an entire sequence of pre-meet rituals, but eventually came to discover those things just made her nervous. Now, she just tries to have fun.
Outside of diving, she loves to surf, jet ski, visit theme parks and spend time with her friends.
鈥淏eing a member of a team has taught me leadership,鈥� says Elle. 鈥淐urrently, we have a lot of younger kids on our club team, so I find it very important to be a positive role model. I love when they run up and give me a bug hug! Seeing how the younger kids love the sport makes me smile!鈥�
鈥淚 would like to thank the staff and coaches at Holy Trinity who have been super supportive, especially our Athletic Director, James Phillips and the Swim and Dive Coach, Tiffany DeAngelis,鈥� Elle adds. 鈥淎lso, I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to win State without the positive energy from both my club and high school coaches, Jim Kelly and Ryan Just.
While at Davidson, her goal is to qualify for NCAA Zones.
We wish you the best of luck, Elle!
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