When senior Ella Litsur saw many of her teammates at Stanford Diving Club committing to top colleges like Columbia and Yale during her sophomore year, she felt an unspoken expectation to follow the same path. From that day on, Litsur set her mind to one goal: diving in college.

When it became time for Litsur to choose a school, she wanted a college that offered both a top-tier diving program and rigorous academics. The University of Chicago, a Division III powerhouse known for its academic excellence, reached out to her in October 2024. After taking some time to consider her options, Litsur decided the school was a perfect fit for her. “UChicago ended up being at the top of my list because it’s in a city with a lot to do. It’s also a well-recognized DIII program with strong biology programs,” Litsur, a prospective biology major, said.

Litsur’s love for diving, sparked by a distant connection, began at the age of 10. The daughter of her mother’s coworker, who now dives at Harvard, introduced her to the sport. At the time, Litsur was already doing flips as a gymnast, so her mother encouraged her to try diving. What hooked her was the thrill of soaring through the air at high heights and the pride after executing a move perfectly. “I really like the feeling of moving through the air really fast at high heights because it’s just very fun,” Litsur said.

Due to Menlo’s lack of a diving team, Listur trains solely with her club at Stanford, an experience she has enjoyed. “[My coach] has just a very positive outlook on life and definitely helped me think about the sport as very mechanical, to avoid things like mental blocks and more,” Litsur said. 

For Litsur, diving is as much a mental sport as a physical one. Mental blocks are always the hardest part for her because she knows she is physically capable of executing a dive, but something in her mind just stops her from achieving that. “The whole sport is just about overcoming one challenge after the next and building up on skills that you already have,” Litsur said.

Repetition and resilience are Litsur’s two most important diving philosophies. This hard-working mentality and grit have carried her through years of early morning practices in the pool, getting back up after failing and shining bright under the lights during her meets. “Ella’s dedication is top tier; she rarely misses a practice unless due to sickness or an overloaded amount of homework,” her Stanford coach Ryan Wallace said. “But even then, she will try to come.”

Even though she’s committed to a competitive college career at UChicago, Litsur doesn’t see diving in her professional future. “I will definitely still continue to dive after college, just in a leisurely way, like joining a master’s program where adults can just dive for fun,” Litsur said.