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Ariel Rittenhouse (2008 Diving Hopeful)

Welcome to our Focus on the Olympics articles that introduces you to our Olympic athletes and hopefuls that will be competing in Beijing this summer. She enjoys reading, dancing, surfing and going to the beach in her spare time. Ariel

Meet Ariel Rittenhouse

Ariel Rittenhouse comes from a family of accomplished athletes. Her mother, Sharon Finneran Rittenhouse, won a silver medal in the 400m individual medley at the 1964 Olympic Games and is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Her uncle, Michael Finneran, was a diver in the 1972 Olympic Games and her grandmother, Carolyn Finneran, was team manager of the 1976 Olympic swim team. In addition, her aunt, grand uncle and great-grandfather were all collegiate divers. She has four older siblings: Rob (a collegiate water polo player), Ivan (a high school volleyball champion), Ryan (a golfer), and Myra (a gymnast and dancer).

Why Root for Her?

In 2004, Ariel moved to Southern California to train with future Olympian Rachel Kunkel under coach Hongping Li at the University of Southern California’s Trojan Dive Club. Under Li, she won her first Speedo National Junior Championship on the 10-meter platform and learned a full pike list on the 3-meter. After two years with Hongping, she moved to the U.S. National Training Center to dive under coach Wenbo Chen and train for the 3-meter synchro event. Under Wenbo Chen, Rittenhouse has won a world cup silver medal for the 3-meter synchro event, a Grand Prix silver, and a Superfinal Grand Prix gold medal with partner Kelci Bryant.

Performance Record

  • 2007 Pan American Games women’s synchronized 3m silver medalist, 3m 5th place
  • 2007 Kaiser Permanente National Championships women’s synchronized 3m champion
  • 2006 Speedo U.S. Open women’s synchronized 3m champion
  • 2006 FINA Diving Mexico Grand Prix Super Final women’s synchronized 3m champion
  • 2006 FINA Diving China World Cup women’s synchronized 3m silver medalist
  • 2005 Junior National Championships women’s platform champion

The U.S. Olympic Diving trials will be held June 18-22.

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About Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago. They have a beautiful daughter who just turned five years old. She is learning to read and preparing for kindergarten in the fall. An author of more than 300 articles and 500+ web copy pieces, Heather has also written three books as a ghostwriter. Empty Canoe Publishing accepted a novel of her own. A former horse breeder, Heather used to get most of her exercise outside. In late 2004, early 2005 Heather started studying fitness full time in order to get herself back into shape. Heather worked with a personal trainer for six months and works out regularly. She enjoys shaking up her routine and checking out new exercises. Her current favorites are the treadmill (she walks up to 90 minutes daily) and doing yoga for stretching. She also performs strength training two to three times a week. Her goals include performing in a marathon such as the Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness or Team in Training for Lymphoma research. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience through the fitness and marriage blogs.