Diving Their Way Up
By MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS
RAFU SPORTS EDITOR
Friday, July 25, 2008

The Ishimatsu sisters have the perfect follow-up to competing for national diving titles: send one to the Olympics in Beijing.

Photos by MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS/Rafu Shimpo
Tory, left, and Haley Ishimatsu are competing in Pasadena this weekend at the U.S. National Championships. Haley then heads to Beijing for the Olympics.

Haley spins as she soars off the 10-meter platform at
the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center. The 15-year-old will
compete in the individual and synchronized 10-meter
platform events at the 2008 Summer Games.

“I did rhythmic gymnastics for a while, but there’s no flipping in it. I need to flip,” Tory said at Thursday’s workout.

PASADENA.–Victoria Ishimatsu’s mood was 180 degrees sunnier Thursday morning. The previous evening, she walked away from the pool with a scowl.

“I had my 15 minutes of sulking. Time to move on,” she said, as she climbed onto the one-meter springboard at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena.

19-year-old Tory, as she’s more commonly known, and younger sister Haley are competing in the 2008 U.S. Diving Championships, running through Sunday, July 27. She has had enough training and experience to deal with failure properly, in a sport that demands perfection.

“I fell short of that yesterday,” Ishimatsu said with resignation. “You work hard, but no athlete wants to come in last, so you always want to win and get better and do your best. When that doesn’t happen, anyone can get frustrated.”

For the Ishimatsu family, the last few years have brought stunning success. Both daughters are competing for national titles and one has earned the right to represent the USA in next month’s Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. On July 7, Haley was named to the U.S. team to compete in the individual 10-meter platform event and the synchronized 10-meter platform, with partner Mary Beth Dunnichay. Tory is vying for national titles in the three-meter synchronized and individual springboard events, as well as the onemeter. It was her 16th-place finish in the solo three-meter that had her somewhat cross on Wednesday.

The sisters’ father showed a guarded level of euphoria at their success.

“It’s exciting, but we’re not really sure if it’s sunk in completely,” said Mark Ishimatsu. “Everything’s still been pretty much of a grind. They just got through the trials and they went through the camp, and now that the team is selected, they started right up on their preparation for the Games.”

While the rise–especially Haley’s–seems meteoric to many, it’s been a process that began on the gymnastics floor. Both girls were dedicated to representing the U.S. on the gymnastics team, only to have separate injuries derail those dreams. The setbacks turned to blessing after a friend suggested Tory try diving.

Haley, 15, said that having older sis lead the way has helped to make her goals much clearer.

“She’s always influenced my decisions in sports,” Haley said. When she was in gymnastics, I wanted to be in gymnastics. Then when she moved to diving, I stayed in gymnastics, but I injured my elbow and decided to go into a different sport. Since she was already diving, I figured I’d get into that.”

By 2006, Tory was already a U.S. Junior National champion. At under five feet and blessed with strength and remarkable grace, Haley caught the eye of U.S. Diving officials, who soon had her diving in international competitions. Within two months, Haley was on a plane with the U.S. Diving Team for a three-week trip to Moscow, Russia and Madrid, Spain for international diving meets.

Coach Wen Bo Chen, who has been working with the Ishimatsu sisters for two years, said the pair have the situational mix that produces champions.

“Obviously, the gymnastics background helps, but also they’re very talented, and that’s helped them progress so quickly,” Chen said. “ As sisters, they watch each other during daily training, and help each and encourage each other. That helps a lot.”

“I’m surprised myself that I’m on the Olympic team in less than four years after I started,” Haley admitted. “When I first started diving, I was aiming for the 2012 Olympics.”

Kimiko Soldati, who was on the U.S. diving team at the Athens Olympics in 2004, has known the sisters since they first began diving. In addition to feeling a kinship due to their common Japanese heritage, Soldati said she and Tory share a birthday.

“It’s exciting to watch both those girls up and coming,” said Soldati, 34. “As amazing as they are diving now, they have so much diving ahead of them because of their ages. I’m excited to see what the future holds for them.”

Soldati said a key to the Ishimatsus’ success is the fact that they are very grounded in a very competitive sport. “They’ve had some excellent coaching and to their credit, the girls work hard and they have goals and they’re determined. They remember that they do this because they love the sport,” she said.

Simply working hard isn’t enough in world-class diving, however. To advance to the upper ranks requires an almost unfathomable commitment. The Ishimatsu family made the necessary sacrifices, moving father and daughters from their home in Seal Beach to Indianapolis to live near the U.S. National Training Center. Mark quit his job and the girls enrolled in an on-line high school.

Tory said missing “traditional” high school life has been a small price for the success she and her sister have enjoyed.

“This was my goal and the sacrifices have been worth it. I’m very happy with how much better I’ve gotten by moving to Indiana,” she said. “When you have a goal, you need to find ways to get yourself there. If it means missing out on your high school experience or missing nights out with your friends, it’s worth it.”

With two highly-driven girls competing in a high-pressure sport, it can be assumed that a fair amount of sibling rivalry could develop–we are talking about teenagers, after all. However, the fact that Haley and Tory compete in different events has avoided what could be a rather awkward home situation.

“If we were in the same event, our household would be very tense, shall we say,” Tory said. “We support each other every which way, we’re hardly ever apart. Dad said if we were in the same event, he wouldn’t want to live in the same house!”

The U.S. team will leave for Beijing in a couple of weeks, but the rest of the Ishimatsu family won’t arrive until Aug. 9, after the games have begun. Though Haley will take part in the Opening Ceremonies, families of athletes have no inside track on obtaining tickets for the first day’s event, the most highly coveted passes of any Olympics.

“I can’t wait to get there and see the Olympic village and all the different people,” Haley said. Tory, meanwhile, has a double-faceted mission in China: to support her sister and get in some serious shopping.

“I can’t wait to go and cheer her on and hopefully lose my voice in the process,” she said.

After the Olympics, Tory will go home to Seal Beach–a welcomed return, according to her father. Mark and Haley will go back to Indianapolis for a month then also head back to Southern California. Haley has received a full scholarship from USC to attend school and dive for their prestigious team. She plans to study kinesiology as she works toward her next goal–a spot at the 2012 Olympics in London.

The Ishimatsu sisters said separately that despite the intensity, despite the frenzy and media crush that began as the Olympics approach, their sport still brings a great deal of enjoyment. Their mother, Carol, and father said that they make certain to keep tabs on their girls’ desires as well as their achievements.

“As a parent, you want to make sure that they’re safe and they’re happy and enjoying what they’re doing,” Mark said. “After every year, even in gymnastics, we always ask them if they want to keep doing this, whether there’s a new goal to accomplish and if they’re still having fun.”

“It’s still fun, diving is always fun,” Tory replied later. “That thrill of falling through the air and the flipping and jumping, it’s such a rush.”