Following her graduation in May of 2014, former FSU diver Ariel Rittenhouse turned in one of the best performances of her diving career by winning two titles at the 2014 AT&T National Diving Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. The meet took place at the Allan Jones Aquatics Center and ran from Aug. 12-16.
“I’m really excited about my performances,” Rittenhouse said. “I was able to dive consistently throughout the week in all of my events. It was really fun and I’m always proud to be representing Florida State.”
While representing Stanford Diving Club, which is near her hometown of Santa Cruz, Calif., the 2008 Olympian highlighted the meet by taking two titles in both the 3-meter individual and synchronized events.
On Saturday, Rittenhouse teamed up with Amanda Burke (Southampton, Pa. /State College, Pa.) and grabbed their first gold as a team in the synchro competition with a score of 311.70 after five dives. Rittenhouse previously won the crown at both the 2007 and 2008 meets while paired with Kelci Bryant prior to the 2008 Olympic Games.
Burke and Rittenhouse led from start to finish, closing out their list with 73.80 points on their back 2 ½ pike and 71.10 points on their front 2 ½ with a twist.
“I’m excited to be diving with Ariel. I never thought I’d have the opportunity to be matched up with her in synchro. She’s someone I’ve always looked up to,” Burke said. “We’ve been focusing on our timing, and I knew once we got that down, we’d match up well.”
Individually, Rittenhouse grabbed her first career title on 3-meter on Sunday after posting a dominant score of 350.45 after five dives. She was third after prelims (300.50) before taking over the top spot in Semifinals (316.45).
In addition to her 3-meter gold, Rittenhouse also grabbed silver on 1-meter on Wednesday, with a total of 277.85.
Rittenhouse won the women’s high point award for the meet.
