University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
NCAA Championships
Pakhalina Wins Third NCAA National Championship on 3-Meter Springboard
3/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
March 21, 2003
AUBURN, Ala. - After beginning her collegiate career with 36 consecutive wins, it was only fitting that University of Houston diver Yulia Pakhalina ended it with another victory.
The senior diver collected 657.30 points on the 3-meter springboard to win her third consecutive NCAA individual national championship in that event at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center during the 2003 NCAA Championships, hosted by Auburn.
"I was waiting for a great performance like this," a proud UH head diving coach Jane Figueiredo said following the meet. "She was really tired, but I told her she had to dig deep for this one. She was just unbelievable."
The Penza, Russia, native ended her career having never lost on the 3-meter board in collegiate meets, an amazing streak of 32 consecutive wins. Overall, she collected wins in 64 of 66 all-time collegiate diving events.
With the win, Pakhalina surpassed Diane Johannigman for the most individual national championships in program history with five titles. Johannigman captured four individual championships in the butterfly event from 1978 to 1980.
"Words can't even describe her," Figueiredo said. "She has really helped elevate the University to a new level, and I am so happy to have worked with her."
USC's Blythe Hartley was a distant second to Pakhalina with 585.15 points.
In the team standings, the Cougars stood in a tie for 18th place with Iowa after totaling 41 points. Host Auburn leads the competition with 389 points, while Georgia is a distant second with 262 points.
Pakhalina qualified for the finals with a solid performance in the preliminaries earlier in the day. With 594.60 points, she finished ahead of Hartley by nearly 30 points entering the evening competition.
Teammate Azul Almazan finished 16th in the preliminaries with 473.75 points and will continue her stay at the Championships when she competes on the platform Saturday.
Preliminaries are slated to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday with the finals expected to start around 7 p.m.
