Texas freshman diver Caroline Kupka won her first collegiate competition Friday in her first 10-meter competition in three years.
With losses against UVA in the rearview, Texas women’s divers consistently performed amongst the top competitors at this weekend’s diving invitational. Kupka also ranked third in the 3-meter at the invitational, accomplishing 346.65 points, her best score of the season.
“As a freshman, I have to prove a lot,” Kupka said. “It’s the most amazing feeling.”
Kupka, originally from Norway, received an acceptance into law school in her home country. However, after seeing one of her best friends pursue a collegiate career in diving at LSU, Kupka considered following in her footsteps. The visit she took to Texas sold her on the idea.
“I was convinced about the whole system,” Kupka said. “Just how including everyone was, especially my coach.”
Kupka remembers specific moments when Texas diving coach Matt Scoggin was very hospitable towards her on her visit, always making sure she was fed and taken care of.
“He was just always there,” Kupka said.
Kupka started diving when she was six, along with her two older sisters. Throughout diving in Norway, she was very close to her coach and older divers. Her dad, who was a kickboxer, was a huge supporter of all of their diving careers.
“My dad absolutely fell in love with it,” Kupka said. “He was like, ‘This is what I want my daughters to do.’”
Prior to Texas, Kupka had an impressive diving career back in Norway, representing her home country at the Junior European Championships, World Championships and Senior European Championships from 2016 up until 2023. She has won 15 Nordic Championship medals, five of those being gold.
Even with this impressive resume, the great success she had with the 10-meter platform shocked her due to the three-year hiatus she took from the event.
Kupka suffered a wrist injury and had surgery in 2018. The pain from the operation halted her 10-meter diving, but Scoggin encouraged her to get back into it this past month.
“I really enjoyed it while I did it before I got injured,” Kupka said. “I was like ‘Why not try?’”
Kupka began practicing diving from the 10-meter just one month before winning this competition and impressed herself at this invitational all while also discovering her role on the team as a freshman and international diver.
“I feel like people say that you have to live up to certain standards being international,” Kupka said. “You kind of sacrifice everything to move across the world to pursue your dreams. I put the pressure on myself.”
Regardless of her international status, Kupka feels supported by the team that she’s falling more in love with each day.
“You know you did a good dive when you come up from the water and everyone is cheering and then coming up to you,” Kupka said. “I’m just getting closer and closer with them.”
Looking forward, Kupka is awaiting the U.S. Nationals — an opportunity to cheer on her teammates and face strong competition.
Kupka has been preparing for each event all while trying to make herself comfortable on the 10-meter platform. Practice for Kupka each week entails running through her list of every dive she will do at the next competition.
“We are going to still do our list, probably every practice, and just try to make that better and more consistent,” Kupka said. “(U.S. Nationals) is probably the biggest, most important competition this semester.”
