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Olympic Committee
DIVING: Diver relies on experience
as a nurse in quest for Gold
ATHENS,
Greece
(Aug. 25, 2004) – Rachelle Kunkel has used her experience of working as nurse in
labor and delivery to help her in her quest for gold at the Olympics.
Kunkel grew up in West Valley City,
Utah, but now lives, works and trains in Los Angeles, Calif. On Wednesday
afternoon, she got one step closer to possibly standing on the medal stand on
Thursday night when the women’s 3-meter springboard competition comes to a
close. She finished 12th in the preliminary round with 294.75 points on five
dives.
“I thought I started out really strong and that was my plan,” Kunkel said. “I
just wanted to be steady and do what I do in practice. Those first two dives
were really important for me and they were confidence boosters.”
Competing at the Olympics can be stressful in and of itself but Kunkel relies on
skills she has acquired as a nurse to control the stress in a productive manner.
“It (being a nurse and an Olympic diver) is pretty similar as far as the stress
goes,” Kunkel said. “Sometimes it can be very stressful when a baby or mom is in
trouble and for the most part you have to be the one that is calm on the surface
and give support to the family. It is a really important as a nurse because you
are the one in most contact with the patients and they rely on you for strength,
faith and guidance. It is very similar to the Olympics because you feel a lot of
stress here. You have to grab hold of it and just control it the best you can.”
Kunkel was very consistent on her first two dives scoring 63 on both. She
faltered a little on her third dive, a reverse 2 ˝ somersault, which she says is
either a hit or miss dive for her. She recorded only 41.40 points.
It was a tough day for Kimiko Soldati of Magnolia, Texas, who finished 21st with
252.36 points. She fell short of qualifying for the semifinal round as only the
top 18 from preliminaries advance.
Soldati, who has been plagued with injuries the majority of her career, started
out a little shaky but fought back to finish strong. Since Olympic Trials in
June, she has been battling a nagging shoulder injury that seemed to get worse
as the Olympics drew closer.
“It (her Olympic experience) wasn’t what I pictured it or imagined it would be,”
Soldati said. “It is disappointing but given the circumstances and the lack of
training that I have been able to do because of my shoulder, I went out and gave
it my all. I left my heart out there and didn’t leave anything behind. I never
gave up throughout the competition. I am proud of that and I feel like I kept
the faith. I finished the race and gave it my best shot but it just wasn’t in
the cards.”
Soldati plans to start a family with her husband, Adam, and will keep the door
open to returning for 2008 to show the world what she is capable of.
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