En route to second Olympics, Aranza Vazquez finds peace of mind

Long before Aranza Vazquez Montaño steps on the diving platform, she turns her attention inward.

Sometimes that means connecting her noise-canceling headphones and listening to Spanish music or heart-thumping classic rock, like Bon Jovi or Aerosmith. Other times, Vazquez buries her nose in a book.

No matter what, the Carolina senior tries not to watch her competition. Vazquez doesn’t want to see how the other divers are faring. She doesn’t want to know their scores. Vazquez creates her own little world, and she stays in it until her body plunges into the water below.

It’s hard to argue with the results.

Not only is Vazquez one of the most accomplished student-athletes at Carolina – having won four NCAA championships in the last two years – but the native of La Paz, Mexico, has evolved into one of the top divers in the world.

In a matter of days, Vazquez will compete in her second straight Olympic Games, representing Team Mexico in Paris.

“It’s a blessing, honestly,” Vazquez said. “I dreamed of going to one Olympics, and now I’m going to my second one. So it’s a little mind-blowing. I’m just super grateful and so excited to see how I do in this competition. It’s just a lot of emotions.”

Those emotions – the pressure, the spotlight, an entire world watching — haven’t always been easy for Vazquez to navigate.

After returning from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she finished sixth in the women’s 3-meter springboard competition, Vazquez felt what she described as a post-Olympics depression.

Suddenly, the joy of competing was replaced with anxious perfectionism. After competing at the world’s highest level, Vazquez put immense pressure on herself. She couldn’t allow herself to be anything less than perfect. Falling short meant letting people down.

It took time, but Vazquez has since developed strategies – like wearing headphones before meets – to manage those sky-high expectations, working with Carolina diving coach Yaidel Gamboa and with the athletic department’s sports psychology program.

“It wasn’t fun in the moment, struggling to find myself while competing after the Olympics,” Vazquez said. “But now that I look back at it, I learned so much, and I’m grateful that happened. It happened for a reason.

“I feel like that mental aspect – knowing how to handle the pressure and the expectations from outside the sport — definitely helped me. And that’s something that I lean more into, knowing that if I’m not mentally ready or mentally prepared, I won’t be physically prepared either.”

By cultivating her mental skills, Vazquez has been able to maximize her natural, physical abilities.

Growing up in the seafront city of La Paz, Vazquez started diving when she was 4, working with a coach to learn the proper techniques. By the time she was a teenager, Vazquez realized she was one of the top divers in Mexico. That’s when she set her sights on the Olympics.

Traveling to Tokyo in 2021 as the first female Olympic diver in Carolina history brought that dream to life, but Vazquez is hungry for more. In her past two college seasons, Vazquez broke through her post-Olympic depression to win national titles in the NCAA 1-meter and 3-meter competitions in consecutive years — Carolina’s first diving national championships.

Now, Vazquez is readying for her Olympic encore.

“I’m hoping and I really am dreaming of a medal, and I think it’s doable,” Vazquez said. “But whatever the result is that day, I will give 100%. That’s the most important thing.”

Vazquez is letting go of her anxieties and perfectionism. She’s not focused on her competitors or the rest of the world watching — just the platform and the pool.

The rest will handle itself.