University of Houston Athletics
Divers Picked to Do Well by Sports Illustrated
8/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Aug. 4, 2004
HOUSTON - Former University of Houston diver Yulia Pakhalina and current volunteer assistant diving coach Vera Ilyina were picked to do well by Sports Illustrated in that magazine's Olympic preview issue on Aug. 2. The defending gold medalists on the women's synchronized springboard, Pakhalina and Ilyina were predicted to win the silver medal in that event. China's Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia were picked to win the Gold Medal. In addition, Pakhalina was predicted to win the Silver Medal in the women's individual springboard, trailing only Guo. Pakhalina and Ilyina begin competition in the synchronized diving event on Aug. 14. That event begins at 1 p.m. (CDT) (9 p.m. in Athens), Aug. 14 and is slated to last about an hour. The individual springboard event begins with the preliminaries at 5:30 a.m. (CDT) (1:30 p.m. in Athens), Aug. 25. The 3-meter diving semifinals will begin at 3 a.m. (CDT) (noon in Athens) on Aug. 26 with the finals slated to start at 1 p.m. (CDT) (9 p.m. in Athens). The Cougars will be well represented at the Olympics. In addition to the two divers, UH diving head coach Jane Figueiredo will serve as an assistant coach on the Russian Team. This will be the fourth Olympics in which Ilyina has competed and the fourth for Figueiredo as well (three as coach, one as participant). Pakhalina will take part in her second Olympic Games. A five-time NCAA individual national champion on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, Pakhalina established herself as one of the most decorated female student-athletes in Cougar history. The Penza, Russia, native reeled off 36 consecutive wins in collegiate competition and was an 11-time Conference USA Diver of the Week honoree. The dean of the UH Swimming and Diving Coach staff, Figueiredo is a two-time NCAA Diving Coach of the Year and three-time recipient of the C-USA Coach of the Year honor and taken 16 divers to the NCAA Championships. In addition, her divers have swept all three C-USA postseason awards in each of the last three seasons. Ilyina, who begins her second season as a volunteer diving coach in 2004-05, was an award-winning diver at Texas from 1996-98.
