Mary Beth Dunnichay dives into Worlds

Mary Beth Dunnichay was a small fish diving into a really big pond as the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic diving team in Beijing. Not to mention that at 15, she was the youngest member of the entire 2008 U.S. Olympic team, which featured about 600 athletes.

Dunnichay, who began diving when she was about 6, spent years being home schooled and training six days a week. So who could blame her when she returned home and decided to take some time off from the sport to be a "regular kid''?

Now, nearly a year later --- at the age when most American teens are lining up for driver's licenses --- Dunnichay finds herself diving again. And she's doing so, she said with a fresh perspective on herself and on the sport.

She and partner, Haley Ishimatsu, who is a few months older than Dunnichay but was the second-youngest member of Team USA, said they are more than ready as they enter the FINA World Aquatics Championships, which begin today in Rome. They placed fifth in the synchronized 10-meter platform in Beijing and believe they are have a shot at winning a world medal. The women's 10-meter synchronized final is set for Sunday.

If they do earn a medal, it would mark the first time since Kristin Link and Lindsay Long earned a bronze in the 1998 world championships in Perth, Australia, that an American team had a podium finish in the 10-meter synchronized platform event.

"We've competed around the same teams and people over two and a half years so nothing much has changed," Dunnichay said. "We're looking forward to worlds because we're in a position to get on the podium."

Much of her confidence in the pool today, oddly enough, seems to come from her time out of it. After the Olympics in Beijing, Dunnichay's coach, John Wingfield said he had a conversation with the young diver and her parents, Ned and Marian, about how to map out the future.

"She wants to shoot for (the 2012 Olympics in) London, but we gave her the opportunity to go to high school," said Wingfield, who is not only Dunnichay's personal coach but also was the 2008 U.S. Olympic diving coach.

Dunnichay relished the opportunity.

"It was great to come back and be a normal kid and go to school," she said. "Everyone treated me the same as anyone else. It was really cool."

After the Olympics, Dunnichay dove only a couple days each week and did most of her other work independently.

"She did a wonderful job of weight training and nutrition on her own," Wingfield said. "She is very routine-oriented and has a distinct plan going in. That contributes to her ability to compete at a very high level."

The scaled-down schedule gave Dunnichay a chance to do some her favorite things, such as hanging out with friends, shopping, seeing movies and reading. She even joined the school's cheerleading squad.

Her hometown of Elwood, Ind., which has been hard hit by plant closings and rising unemployment, celebrated her diving achievements with a pre-Olympic parade, in which she sat atop a fire truck. Later, her hometown newspaper, the Herald Bulletin, named Dunnichay its "Person of the Year.''

Still, Dunnichay said she managed to slip into the regular life of a teenager. That distinction didn't give her any preferential treatment, she said, but she admitted, "It's not a bad thing to have that reputation that went to the Olympics."

Ultimately, however, the top divers in the world have to focus on practicing, too. And when she returned to the pool, she came back re-energized.

"She came back stronger and more focused than before," Wingfield said. "She got more space than others, but I think it paid off."

Even with the time away from the pool, Wingfield said it was a no-brainer that the teenager would make the world championships team.

"They were head and shoulders better at the selection camp," Wingfield said of the selection process for the synchronized team. "Their synchronized diving list is very, very strong."

Dunnichay and Ishimatsu have been diving partners since 2006. They were both 13 when they finished fourth at the FINA Grand Prix Super Final in Mexico. They earned their Olympic berth after posting the highest single-round score (346.9) of the four rounds of dives at a selection camp last summer in Knoxville, Tenn. Olympic champion Laura Wilkinson and Jessica Livingston protested the selection of Dunnichay and Ishimatsu to the team, but an arbitrator from the American Arbitrator Association upheld USA Diving's decision to send the young duo to Beijing.

"Those two have been working out for a number of years and have lots of competitions under their belt," Wingfield said. "Individually, Mary Beth is still developing. I see her emerging as top individual diver, but right now synchronized is her strength."

Dunnichay began working with Wingfield after watching her brother, Caleb, at diving practice. A cousin had been taking lessons from Wingfield, which led to Caleb joining as well. Caleb dove for two years at Auburn University before transferring to Notre Dame.

"I was the little sister who went with to his practices," Dunnichay said. "Then [I] started going to practice with him and then took lessons, too. It just became a routine thing."

From the start Wingfield noticed Dunnichay's stature and fitness level, which he said have helped her to become a great diver.

"She is petite in stature and that lends itself to tower diving," he said. "She is a very fit young lady and was as a child as well."

Diving is a sport that requires a high level of mental acumen, as well as the physical tools to make the twists, flips and somersaults happen-let alone matching it with another diver doing it mere feet from you.

Wingfield said that Dunnichay's mental focus played a big role in her making the Olympics at such a young age.

"She is very focused in what she wants to achieve," he said. "She was like that as a girl. She knew what [she] had to learn and how to learn. She does a nice job of walking through the conceptual framework to get from A to Z.

"It's not only physical ability but mental ability and competition ability. She has good strength in competition ability as well."

With one Olympic Games already under her belt, Dunnichay said she feels confident going into these world championships.

"To be the youngest at the Olympics made me more confident in myself ... knowing that at such a young age [I] was able to do what some of the older athletes could do in a shorter amount of time," she said.

Chinese divers have dominated the top of the podium in the 10-meter synchronized competition, but Wingfield said a podium spot isn't out of the realm of possibility for the Americans at the World Championships.

"They're in position to do quite well," he said. "They've done so much in their history as partners. They are very close to the podium. The top spot is difficult, but of all the synchronized events, this lends itself to reaching gold.

Dunnichay isn't worried about the lack of time practicing with Ishimatsu, and if it comes down to their final dive-a back twister, which Dunnichay said is their favorite dive- they can get it done.

"I'm not worried," Dunnichay said. "We will be prepared and ready to compete."

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Lonny Goldsmith is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.