When Illinois head diving coach Tricia Grant was 16 and still in high school, diving was not even in a thought in her mind. Still focused on gymnastics, Grant only started diving after being recruited by her biology teacher, who was also the diving coach at her school.

Though she now loves the sport, Grant says it was not an instant interest, and she almost quit after one year. Participating in dance, figure skating, and gymnastics growing up, it took her some time to learn to land on her head, something that did not apply in previous sports she did.

Grant eventually decided to fully commit to diving after a friend signed her up for the team without telling her, and after her name was called over the school's public address system, she was "really confused."

"I thought I was in trouble," Grant said, "but I was like, 'Alright, well, if we're gonna do it, we're gonna do it right.'"

And that's exactly what they did, joining a club team and training for nearly 35 hours per week. After trying to stay in gymnastics while also keeping up with the demands of diving, Grant eventually decided to stick with the latter, as it gave her the best chance of competing at the collegiate level.

"I was 17 by the time I quit gymnastics, and I wasn't where I needed to be if I was going to do it in college," Grant said. "With diving, I had a feeling I'd be able to be really good at diving really fast, and I knew I wanted to do it in college. It was worth it to quit everything else and pursue diving."

Grant attended Oakland University, and following a freshman campaign in which she earned all-conference honors, she was named the Summit League Diver of the Year as a sophomore.

Eventually winning seven of a possible eight league titles in her four seasons at Oakland, Grant graduated in 2015 with a degree in health science. Though she coached for a club team for four years, Grant worked in a physical therapy clinic after graduation, only moving into coaching when an opportunity arose at Bowling Green State University.

"One of my club divers from Oakland graduated and went to Bowling Green," Grant said. "She called me, and they needed a diving coach. I applied, and I guess it's just kind of interesting how you run into people and things happen the way that they do. I loved it."

Grant then spent five seasons at BGSU, guiding the program to five Mid-American Conference titles in the one-meter dive and four MAC titles in the three-meter dive. She holds the school record for most NCAA Division I Zone qualifications (5), while six of her divers ranked in the top 16 at the 2022 MAC Championships in the three-meter dive.

After building one of the best diving teams in the country, Grant has joined the Fighting Illini as the program's head diving coach, and her winning experience as an athlete and as a coach will be instrumental in the first year of this new era of Illinois swim and dive.

"I think I definitely am able to relate to a lot of what these women go through," Grant said. "It wasn't that long ago that I was doing the same thing. When I say I know what you're going through, I really do. I've been there, so that's huge. As an athlete, I competed at NCAA nationals, as a coach I've been a couple times with with my own athletes, so that experience is really invaluable. I know what it takes to get there."

In Grant's first season in Champaign, she wants to see general improvement while also pushing divers to achieve their Zone qualifying score on both boards. Moving forward, Grant also is looking to recruit divers who she knows can qualify for NCAA Zones in their freshman seasons.

Grant emphasizes learning through explanation, a tool she has been using throughout her coaching career and ever since she stepped foot in ARC Pool. With the first meet of the year less than one week away with the annual Blue vs. Orange competition, Grant and the Illini are ready to begin a new era.

"I try to play to my strengths the best that I can," Grant said. "I love diving. I'm passionate about it. I'm interested in it. I've never met anybody with any other job that I would rather have than my own. I try to surround myself with athletes who share that passion for the sport, and who want to learn, who are willing to challenge themselves at this level and not just come in and maintain what they already have but really dig deeper and try to be better. 

"I think students attend institutions like this to learn, and my job is to teach them how to become better divers. Instead of just giving them a correction, I do a lot of explaining why they need to do that specific correction and what the outcome is going to be. I feel like the more they understand about the physics of the sport, it helps create buy-in."