She is in the pool before many people are even awake. While her peers head to first period, she has practiced more dives than most do in their lifetime. From early in the morning to late at night swimming is her life. 

Junior Olivia Astrologes is an experienced diver, she has had a long and difficult athletic journey. She’s been working towards the goal of making it to the Olympics, training from a young age. Astrologes practices more hours than the average full time job a week.

“I started when I was seven, I did gymnastics at first and then didn’t want to do that anymore. One of my old teammates recommended diving to me,” Astrologes said.

As she grew older, diving became her main goal. As the years went by, Astrologes faced a long and physically demanding training she does on the weekly basis.

“A typical day of training is 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. We warm up, then we usually have a lunch break from eleven to twelve and then we go to the pool from 12:00 to 3:00,” Astrologes said, “We have weights on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then we do cardio on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday…we train 45 hours a week.”

Astrologes says the training she’s participated in has ultimately has brought her. With her intense conditioning, she’s working towards a major diving milestone. 

“[The Olympics] is the ultimate goal. I realized this when I was 11 and when I had my current coach,” Astrologes said.

Beyond her hours of training, Astrologes‘ technical and mental strengths as a diver is what her head coach John Wingfield sees bringing her to the next level.

“She enjoys working hard and is very intentional about her skill development and her physicality to improve her athleticism.” Wingfield said. “She possesses excellent competitive acumen, allowing her to perform well and with ease in what might be stressful situations for other divers.” 

Astrologes‘ coach has worked with multiple Olympians and her coach is actively  working towards making their team improve with his training.

“He is an Olympic coach, so he has had 12 Olympians, and I’ve been with him since I was 8…when training started to get serious where it was every single night after school I realized that [The Olympics] was the ultimate goal,” Astrologes said. 

With the hope of one day making it to the Olympics, Astrologes was led to crossroad and had to decide whether or not she could continue in person school, or the choice of online school.

“We talked about doing online school in sixth grade…I finished seventh grade in person and then one of my really good friends on my team switched to online. That is when I made the decision to switch as well,” Astrologes said. 

A choice with such a life an impact made her decision difficult. It was not a clean cut choice for her, she says  there were drawbacks to each option.

“Leaving all my friends at school was hard. A new environment can sometimes be hard to thrive when you’re in a new place,” Astrologes said.

Still, Astrologes has found ways to stay in contact with friends from school despite the distance, as well as ways to keep close contact to her team. 

“I do try to stay in contact with all my friends as much as I can, but at the end of the day, the people I’m closest with are the people on the team,” Astrologes said. 

Over the years, Astrologes‘ team, as well as her coaches have become like a family, offering a sense of purpose and guidance. 

“I think the coaches have all become just like second parental figures to me especially, my head coach John” Astrologes said. “He has watched me grow up, and so I think just having them is kind of like futures in my life that have been with me for so long and that definitely helps.”

Astrologes says her team has created a strong work ethic together and finds that working together has only made them stronger. Noah Horwitz, Astrologes‘ teammate also appreciates the tight bond the team has. 

“We’re together for so many hours of a day, so many hours of a week, that we we feel like [on] our team, we form a really tight bond and that we get to know each other so well every day. You’re hungry to practice with your best friends and it really makes you like it.” Horwitz said.

With the support from her coaches and teammates, Astrologes’s Olympic dreams already have a plan for what the future will look like for her.

“I’m staying here until 2028 and taking a gap year. Then, after 2028, whether I make the Olympics or not, I’ll go off to college, hopefully D1,” Astrologes said, “Then after college…I might come back for another four years to potentially try for the 2036 Olympics.”

Through Astrologes years of being a diver, she has learned how the importance of mindset is when it comes to motivation.

“Have a reason why you’re doing what you’re doing, because when you don’t have that determination you aren’t giving your 100%,” Astrologes said. 

Wingfield sees Astrologes work ethic and mentality from their many years of training.

“Olivia possesses many attributes both physically and psychologically that make her a great diver,” Wingfield said. “She enjoys working hard and is very intentional about her skill development and her physicality to improve her athleticism.” 

Wingfield says that while the reward can be great, the sacrifices that are needed as well as what it takes to compete at such a high level.

“Training nearly 40 hours per week from a young age, making sacrifices of time, social engagements, and activities ‘normal’ to students. Her age speaks volumes about her work ethic. Her successes at the national level are a result of the relentless pursuit of her diving endeavor,“ Wingfield said.

Horwitz also appreciates Astrologes skills, her performance, and what athlete Astrologes expects herself to be. 

“I think she has what it takes to be an Olympic athlete because she’s very consistent when she dives. I don’t really see her miss a dive when she’s at a meet,” Horwitz said.

As Astrologes examines her goals, she wants young athletes to be able to have purpose and perseverance toward their future.

“It would be to define a ‘Why?’ and wake up every morning and remind yourself of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it,” Astrologes said. “That is going to help you stay determined and keep on doing what you want to do.”