Miami has been represented well at the NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships with several ’Canes making their marks so far.
Of them all, Chiara Pellacani, coming off her Olympic redshirt season, was able to bring home gold for the Hurricanes. With a score of 354.65, Pellacani took home first place in the 1-meter springboard. Now an NCAA champion, the junior diver adds another impressive medal to her already stacked resume that includes an ACC Gold and an Olympic appearance for Italy.
Pellacani’s weekend started with a strong performance in the preliminaries. Her score of 338.80 was 15 points higher than the second spot. This set her up for a big finish in the finals, and she did just that.
With her fourth attempt, Pellacani performed a reverse 2 ½ somersault tuck that helped push her over the top. With a score of 354.65, she outdid the rest of the field by nearly 21 points and claimed gold on the biggest stage of the season.
The first-place finish makes her the 17th diver in Hurricanes’ history with a national championship. That wasn’t the only accomplishment for her, as on the following night, she took home silver in the 3-meter springboard.
And Pellacani wasn’t alone; her runner-up in the 1-meter is none other than Miami’s last diving champion, senior Mia Vallée, who took home seventh in the 3-meter to earn All-American honors alongside Pellacani in both events. This wasn’t just a momentous statement for Pellacani – it was a statement for the work of first-year head diving coach Dario di Fazio.
After the meet, Pellacani reflected on both the work her coach has done this year and on sharing the honors with her teammate Valle. “Dario is amazing. This is his first year as a head coach, and he’s doing really well. Mia is an amazing diver, too. We always have fun practicing together. It’s a competition between us [at practice], and doing it here is even more fun.”
Moving from the diving board to in the pool, Miami also had some impressive performances for the swimmers who qualified. This was mainly through Giulia Varvalho, who led the way in the 100-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle to earn two All-American honorable mention spots.
The women also had some impressive freshmen with them as Ashly Massey and Simone Moll both took home some good times for their first NCAA championship appearances.
While that wraps up the women’s standouts, the men will also have a chance to shine as senior Max Flory later this week takes to the springboard.