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| Samantha
PICKENS |
| Sport |
Diving |
| NOC |
United States
|
| Gender | Women |
| Born | 04 Jul 1991
in Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
| Height | 1.52 m |
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Further Personal Information |
Higher education |
Psychology - University of Arizona: Tucson, AZ, USA |
Sport Specific Information |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
She began diving at age 13 in Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America. |
International Debut |
Year |
2013 |
Competing for |
United States |
Location |
Canada |
Further Personal Information |
Languages |
English |
General Interest |
Injuries |
She missed the 2014 diving season after tearing ankle ligaments in a trampolining accident. (triblive.com, 19 May 2015)
She won a state title in her freshman year of high school despite competing with a stress fracture to one of her vertebra. Two weeks later she was put in a plastic brace for the next four months, with one doctor indicating she might never be able to dive again. The injury resurfaced during her first year of college at the University of Arizona in Tucson, United States of America. (triblive.com, 16 May 2015) |
Nicknames |
Sam (msn.com, 25 Mar 2020) |
Awards and honours |
In 2013 and 2015 she was named Women's Diver of the Year by the Pac-12 Conference in the United States of America. (pac-12.com, 01 Apr 2015) |
Other information |
AIMING FOR TOKYO
Her Olympic dreams started to take hold when she competed at collegiate level for the University of Arizona. In 2018 she moved her training base from Tucson, Arizona, to Midland, Texas, to train for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "I finally started to buy into that mentality that, 'Okay, I really don't want to be just a college diver anymore'. I want to go even further, I want to go to the world championships, I want to be a top placer at Olympic trials. I went to the University of Arizona and dove there for five years. I had heard that maybe I could make the Olympic team. I heard wonderful things about the programme [at City of Midland Aquatics] and I'm so happy to be part of it." (wreg.com, 29 Mar 2021; COM Aquatics Facebook page, 22 Jun 2019)
FURTHER EDUCATION
Between 2014 and 2017 she studied for a master's degree in educational psychology at the University of Arizona in the United States of America. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2019) |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Athlete, Coach |
Residence |
Midland, TX, USA |
Sport Specific Information |
Club / Team |
City of Midland Aquatics: United States |
General Interest |
Most influential person in career |
Her family. (wreg.com, 29 Mar 2021) |
World Championships |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| Preliminary round |
2015 |
Kazan, RUS |
1m Springboard |
237.90 |
| 7 |
2013 |
Barcelona, ESP |
3m Springboard Synchro |
284.64 |
| Preliminary round |
2013 |
Barcelona, ESP |
1m Springboard |
232.65 |
Grand Prix |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 13 |
2020 |
Madrid, ESP |
3m Springboard |
283.85 |
| 3 |
2015 |
San Juan, PUR |
3m Springboard |
290.70 |
| 17 |
2013 |
|
3m Springboard |
|
World Series |
| Rank |
Year |
Venue |
Event |
Result |
| 9 |
2014 |
London, ENG |
3m Springboard Synchro |
260.73 |
| 6 |
2014 |
Monterrey, MEX |
3m Springboard Synchro |
279.87 |
| 8 |
2014 |
Windsor, ON, CAN |
3m Springboard Synchro |
259.74 |
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