Senior Salute: Kristen Asman – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swim & Dive
Jan. 20, 2012 Photo Gallery
Columbus, Ohio –
With Senior Day fast approaching, OhioStateBuckeyes.com will take time the next two weeks to feature each Buckeye graduating this season. The senior members of the women’s swimming and diving team will be recognized Saturday, January 21, at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in a dual meet vs. Michigan.
As a Columbus native, representing Ohio State has been a special experience for four-time diving All-American and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Kristen Asman.
“It has certainly been an honor to represent the traditions and excellence of Ohio State athletics,” Asman said. “I have so many wonderful memories from diving and have had so much fun with my teammates and coaches over the past five years. As a student here at Ohio State, I have had the opportunity to learn from some of the best in their field.”
Learning from the best in the classroom is just one of the reasons Asman feels prepared to move on to the next step in her life; the fifth-year senior has currently been offered final interviews at five different physical therapy doctorate programs around the country.
Another reason Asman feels confident in her ability to be successful away from diving is the self-assurance Ohio State head diving coach Vince Panzano has instilled within her.
“Vince has taught me to stand up for myself and to be the leading lady of my own life. He has taught me how to be mentally tough in just about any situation,” Asman said.
Before arriving at Ohio State, Asman set a goal for herself to make a final at the Big Ten championships by her senior year. She would go on to complete that goal as just a freshman at the 2008 Big Ten championships, held at Ohio State.
“I will never forget the feeling I had when I walked out on to the platform to perform my last dive in the finals and saw cameras everywhere, my entire family cheering me on in the stands and all of my teammates gathered around the pool,” Asman said. “In that moment, I knew I had accomplished my first goal in collegiate diving by making the finals.”
Asman would leave that day with a second-place finish on the platform and was honored with the MVP award for the meet.
Serving as a confidence booster for the rest of her Buckeye career, Asman has developed into one of the elite divers in the country – quite a difference from her days of admiring divers from afar.
“I was actually a swimmer before I was a diver. One day during swim practice, when I was seven years old, I looked over at the divers who were practicing and it looked like they were having way more fun doing flips than I was swimming back and forth in a pool,” Asman said. “After that, I asked my mom to sign me up for diving lessons.”
It was a request that has paid big dividends for both Asman and the Buckeyes.
