Setting records is considered the highlight of many athletes’ careers, but for breakout star of the women’s swim and dive team, Anna Petke, this is just the beginning.
With a score of 319.5 in the three-meter dive and 303.68 in the one-meter, one would expect this record-breaking swimmer to be an upperclassman, but it is only Petke’s second year at the University of Rhode Island.
For Petke, being a successful athlete was just a normal part of her childhood.
“I was a gymnast when I was five up until seventh grade, and then I started diving my freshman year of high school,” Petke said. “I started just loving diving because it wasn’t as much pain on the body as in gymnastics. So I kept through it through COVID and won a state championship my senior year for Pennsylvania.”
With the success she had in high school, the decision to attend URI and continue her athletic career was a no-brainer according to Petke. She knew this was her future home after the first step on campus and meeting with Rhode Island Assistant Coach Christo Law, in which she attributes a lot of her success thus far.
“As soon as I got here, I just fell in love with Rhode Island,” Petke said. “I fell in love with the school and I was just so excited to start my journey here with Christo. When I first got to URI he pushed me, he saw my potential and he is the reason why I am here and why I’ve accomplished so much.”
For Law, he said he saw it in Petke from the beginning and knew she was going to make an immediate impact to the URI swim and dive team.
“In terms of athleticism, I thought that she was a really talented athlete,” Law said. “I knew I wouldn’t need to do much more than just guiding her and giving her a few tips here and there and then just let her natural ability take off and be successful with the sport.”
With so much accomplished already, Law expects much more to come from Petke in the future not only individually, but also to help the program in years to follow.
“Now that she’s really had a breakout opportunity, I think that she will continue to grow this culture and help another generation just based off the lessons she was taught and all of the experiences that she went through,” Law said. “She’ll be able to really just pick up and give back to the community.”
For Petke, she knows that she’s just scratching the surface with what she’ll accomplish at URI.
“This is really just the beginning,” Petke said. “I see myself as having more to give so I’m excited to just keep working and focusing on myself and my skill work and what I can do to become the best diver I can be.”
With the Atlantic 10 Championships coming up in a couple of weeks, Petke is doing what she knows is best to get her and her team ready.
“I don’t have an expectation,” Petke said. “I am just focusing on me, focusing on my team, the other divers that are going and just being someone there for our team to make sure that we’re all positive and have a good mindset going into this meet.”
The URI women’s swim and dive team will compete in the Atlantic 10 Championships beginning on Feb. 19. The matches can be streamed on ESPN+.
