Iowa diving sends Tamborski and Neuman to NCAAs
Iowa’s Sam Tamborski and Mohamed Neuman advanced to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships this week.
Iowa diver Samantha Tamborski competes in the platform diving preliminaries during the sixth session of the 2020 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. Tamborski finished 21st with 191.10 points.
March 11, 2020
On Tuesday — the second day of action at the NCAA Zone ‘D’ Diving Championships — Iowa women’s diver Sam Tamborski qualified for her second-straight NCAA Championship.
In the final session of the meet hosted by Southern Methodist University March 10 in Dallas, Texas, freshman Mohamed Neuman followed in Tamborski’s footsteps for the men’s team.
Tamborski posted a score of 630.05 off of the 3-meter springboard to qualify. She was 10th in preliminaries with a 291.15 before jumping to seventh in the finals with a score of 338.90.
Last season, Tamborski earned her first NCAA Championships appearance with an 11th place finish with 663.45 points. She had a 330.50 in the finals after opening the competition with a 332.95 in the preliminaries
Joining Tamborski from the women’s team is senior Thelma Strandberg and junior Claire Park. Junior Jayah Mathews also qualified for the zones meet but did not dive at the competition.
“I definitely compete my best when I am relaxed and having a good time with my team,” Tamborski said. “It’s awesome having all the girls here with me, and it’s been a really good environment. They definitely calm me down when I am competing and remind me to stay positive through the whole meet. I’m excited for the rest of the season with them.”
For the men, Neuman qualified for the NCAA championships in platform diving with a score of 696.25. Qualifying for NCAAs was something he didn’t think he could accomplish so early in his career.
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“I wasn’t expecting to be the team’s top diver, since there are very good divers on the team with me,” Neuman said. “However, I was confident that with the help of the coaches, staff, and teammates I would be able to position myself between the top divers in the nation.”
Neuman credits increased self-confidence and better practice habits for his success this season.
“I have worked on and developed countless skills this season,” Neuman said. “The most important ones were to have confidence in myself while performing my dives in a meet and to take practices as serious as meets to feel comfortable when I am put under a lot of pressure situations.”
Freshmen Hawkeyes Jonathan Posligua and junior Anton Hoherz also qualified for the zones meet.
Neuman will also compete in the 3-meter springboard event at the NCAA championships.
The two Hawkeye divers will join four swimmers who have already qualified for the NCAA championships.
Neuman will compete alongside junior Daniel Swanepoel and sophomore Anze Fers Erzen from March 25-28 in Indianapolis, Indiana, for national glory. Tamborski will be joined by junior Kelsey Drake and senior Hannah Burvill March 18-21 in Atlanta, Georgia.
