Ayden Her '21 Recruiting Profile

I began my diving career in the fall of 2019 as an 11th grader at the Minnesota Diving Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am a former gymnast with Junior Olympic Level 9 skills. Diving was very unfamiliar to me at first but I tried it out anyways. In just a few months I had a full 1 Meter list, a working 3 Meter list, and a few platform dives as well!

On New Years eve of 2019, I fractured my knee during gymnastics practice and ultimately decided to quit gymnastics for good. The next few months were very hard for me physically and emotionally. My mental health suffered greatly but when I joined Minnesota Diving Academy it gave me a new purpose. I was very nervous at first doing diving because it was a new sport to me. However, I soon discovered my love for diving and how supportive my new coaches/friends were. I persistently worked on my technique and dives to push me outside of my comfort zone. This in turn improved my determination and consistency at diving competitions. Unfortunately, due to COVID19 I have only been able to compete in two competitions. I am hoping that after this unplanned break I can hit the ground running in my training. 

After being a competitive gymnast for 10 years, I am proud of my courage and determination to try a new sport. I am trying to re-balance myself as a student-athlete and I hope that the discipline from diving will help keep me excelling academically. I will always be ready to be optimistic, eager to learn, coach-able, and ready to work hard for any team I am a part of. Coming from an Asian household, community and helping others has been a large part of my upbringing. I am hoping to attend a school that allows me to continue diving, give back to communities, discover more of my values and morals, and be challenged academically. I believe the best is yet to come for me in diving and in college. Thank you for viewing my profile.