Katrina Young makes the Olympics diving semi-finals

 By Diane Hettrick

Shoreline's Katrina Young made the semi-finals in the 10 meter platform diving event at the Rio Olympics.

Katrina and Jessica Parratto represented the USA Women's team in the 10 meter event.

In the preliminary rounds, Katrina's first dive was a little shaky, putting her in 26th place. The next four dives were each better than the last, leaving her in 12th place where the top 18 were moving on to the semi-finals.

Katrina and her coach, who was in Rio
with her for the events

In the semi-finals, her first dive was strong. Her second dive, a back 3 and a half somersault, was deficient, dragging down her cumulative score. Katrina, who had been consistently good in trials, told an interviewer that 'There was a technical error and I let the nerves get to me."

Her next three dives were solid, each one raising her cumulative score and ranking. Katrina said, "I fought back as hard as I could and I'm proud of myself for that."

She finished her diving round in 12th place, right on the cut line.

Then it depended on the scores of the rest of the divers and she began the nail-biting wait. First one diver, then another, failed to dislodge her in the rankings.

Then a young diver who was also on the cut line did her last dive and scored just a few points ahead of Katrina. Katrina's Rio Olympics were done.

"It just gives me more fire to come back and do what I know how to do."

Some of the athletes tatooed
the rings on their bodies

It looks like we will be seeing more of our hometown girl.

Platform diving is done from fixed platforms at regular heights. 10 meters is about 33 feet in the air, equivalent to a three story building. Divers dive from the platform forwards, backwards, and from handstands. They stand with their backs to the water and the back half of their feet off the edge of the platform.

They do twists, turns, and somersaults on the way down and hit the water at 30mph. "It hurts," said a former gold medal diver and NBC commentator, who commented that it is not unusual to see divers packed in ice bags after an event. "But," she said, "we're all adrenaline junkies, and we love it."

It's like flying. "I feel like an arrow in the water," Katrina said.

There's Olympic history in Katrina's family. Her father's mother, Elaine Young, was a sprinter in the 1948 Olympics from Canada.

22 year old Katrina majored in music. Her mother's mother taught her to play the piano.

Katrina lives and trains in Tallahassee, Florida. Her parents are Carol and Sean Young of Shoreline.

Corrected 8-20-2016 Thanks to the reader who pointed out I was mixing feet and meters!