Arkansas To Be Well-Represented At 2017 FINA World Diving Championships

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — One current and two future University of Arkansas divers have qualified for the 2017 FINA World Diving Championships, which will be held July 14-22 in Budapest, Hungary.

Incoming freshman Brooke Schultz, daughter of Arkansas diving coach Dale Schultz, captured a spot on the USA roster over the weekend in the women’s 3m springboard after recording a cumulative score of 976.30. Outscoring the field by more than 48 points, Schultz will be making her first appearance at the World Championships. She will also compete at the 2017 World University Summer Games in Taipei, Taiwan, starting August 19. Last summer, Schultz was a finalist in the 3m springboard at the 2016 US Olympic Trials.

Representing South Africa at the World Championships, senior-to-be Nicole Gillis qualified for the 1m springboard and 3m synchro. Gillis is coming off a junior campaign that saw her break the Arkansas pool and school records in the 1m in back-to-back meets to open the season. She finished the year with the top five 1m scores on the team and three of the top five in school history. Finishing 10th at the SEC Championships in the event, Gillis advanced to the NCAA Championships where she took home a 38th-place finish. Last summer, Gillis recorded her best-ever finish in an international event with a seventh place finish in the 3m synchro. Of the six duos that finished ahead of her, four featured divers who participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Maha Amer, another soon-to-be freshman, will represent Egypt at the 2017 FINA Championships in the 3m springboard after making its roster. Amer finished 28th at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games in the 3m for Egypt.

“I am very excited having all three of these young ladies compete at the World Championships,” said diving coach Dale Schultz. “Having two incoming freshman compete on this level before they even step on campus gives the entire swimming and diving program at Arkansas some credibility and makes this upcoming year even more exciting. The future here at Arkansas is very bright.”

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