Charles Nailen/The Hoya

Sport: Diving

Hometown: West Covina, Calif.

High School: Covina High School

School/Year: COL ’04

Major: Psychology

Minor: Biology

High School Highlights: Participated at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) for diving all four years and earned third place junior year and second place sophomore and senior years . Dove on a club team at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center . Qualified for Regionals and Zones for diving all four years . Was a member of the California Scholarship Federation (CSF) . Ranked academically in the top ten of high school class.

Georgetown Highlights: Has broken all four diving records at Georgetown in the 1 meter 6 dive, the 3 meter 6 dive, the 1 meter 10 dive (freshman year) and the 3 meter 11 dive (junior year). Took first in the one and three meter diving events against Loyola and against Seton Hall and Binghamtom . Placed fourth in the Patriot League Invitational . Qualified for the Big East tournament freshman and sophomores years . Qualified for the NCAA zone for diving freshman and sophomore years.

When did you start diving? When I was twelve. I was in gymnastics and my grandma has a pool with a diving board and I would just dive off of that. One day my mom suggested that I do diving, and I did.

How does breaking four school records rank among your achievements? Pretty high. I would place it near the top-it feels good to have those records. In a way it feels like a great achievement, but I’m also doing what I like doing. It’s like an added bonus to doing something I like doing.

Favorite DC radio station: I like DC101.

Was it a culture shock coming to Georgetown from the West Coast? Yeah, especially the weather-the winter’s way too cold here. I think the snow’s great, it’s just the cold. And people just have a different mentality here-it’s hard to explain. People dress differently, too.

How did you end up at Georgetown? It was a combination of things. I took a recruiting trip here and fell in love with the school and DC. I was looking to go to the school on the East Coast. Georgetown just fit everything I wanted in a school and I really liked the diving coach.

If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, which one would it be? Serendipity.

Something that diving has taught you: When you get knocked down, just get back up. To relate it to life, if things don’t go your way, try again.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change? I guess I worry too much about things-I get stressed really easily.

What do you do before a diving meet to relax? I like listening to music. I can’t dive without my Discman.

Have you lived in California your whole life? No, I was born in Colombia. I moved to California when I was four years old. I don’t remember it being a hard transition or anything. My mom was raised in California, so I spoke English.

If you hadn’t come to Georgetown, where would you have gone to school? Probably UC Berkley. I had a really good friend on the diving team. I went on a recruiting trip and I really liked the team. And San Francisco is awesome-it’s a fun city and the campus is really pretty.

Hobbies or collections: I love dolphins, so I have a collection of dolphin stuff, like figurines. For hobbies, I like running.

The person who knows you the best: Probably my best friend since high school, Lyn. I’ve known her since Junior High. Currently she’s doing a semester at American University, but she goes to Azusa University in Calif.

Biggest pet peeve: People talking loud on their cell phones in the library.

Favorite place to study in the library: The fourth floor.

Biggest misconception that other people have about you: I guess I’m kind of shy, so when people first meet me they take it as overconfidence and as being stand-offish. I’ve had people tell me that that’s what they thought of me when they first met me.

The person who’s been a role-model for you: My mom and my diving coach from the Rose Bowl. My coach is someone I look up to and admire a lot. And my mom raised my sister and me as a single mother and has influenced me. She’s just been a role-model for me.

First thing you do when you wake up in the morning: Here I turn the heater on because it’s freezing! I turn my computer on-I’m the biggest internet, online person.

Favorite place to order-out at Georgetown: Bangkok Bistro.

If you could switch lives with any one person for a day, who would it be and why? The girl from the movie Blue Crush because she gets to live in Hawaii and surf and be on the beach the whole time.

First concert you ever went to: I went to an N’Sync concert in high school. My best friend Lyn and I went-we got free tickets. I’ve been to two N’Sync concerts and one Weezer concert. Weezer was good, I went to it this summer.

Best class you’ve taken at Georgetown: The class that I’ve enjoyed the most was last semester-Animal Behavior with Professor [Janet] Mann. It’s a subject I’m really interested in a lot-I’ve always been interested in animals and that kind of stuff.

Favorite candy: Anything with chocolate.

Have you ever met anyone famous? When I was in high school, my friend and I had the biggest crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas so we went to a taping of “Home Improvement” and got to meet the cast. I have an autographed picture of them.

Favorite place on-campus: I guess I would have to say on a sunny day, the esplanade.

If you could have one super-power, what would it be? I guess on “Star Trek,” when you can just go somewhere-teleportation. So I could go home when I want and when it’s cold, so I don’t have to walk outside.

Are you a late-night person or an early morning person? Morning. I usually get up at eight.

Biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome: I guess just coming here and dealing with getting used to everything-not being close to home or any family and just creating a new life here. And one related to diving is my freshman year, I smacked really hard after a 10 meter dive-I landed on my back. I had to go the hospital because I was coughing up blood. For about a year after that I couldn’t do that dive.

Most rewarding aspect of diving: Just learning a new dive or doing a dive really well in competition. It makes you feel like you’ve really accomplished something.

Least favorite actor or actress: I’m not the biggest fan of Austin Powers.

Last thing you think before you step off the diving board: It depends on the dive I’m doing. Usually, just try and “rip”-going in without a splash. But for each dive, it’s something different. I try to think about what my coaches tell me to do.

If you could relive one moment in your life, which one would it be and why? The first time I learned an optional dive-a front 3 ½-just because it made me think I can be a good platform diver.

Siblings: I have an older sister who’s 22, Manuela. She goes to LaVerne University in Calif.

Pets: I have a dog, a Cocker Spaniel, Penny, and two cats, Whiskers and I forget the name of the other one-we just call it the Black Cat or My Cat-at home. And we have a fish at Georgetown, Prestwick.

Most prized possession: At home I have a family photo album of when I was young and of my dad-he died when I was in third grade.

Favorite childhood memory: I guess it would be going on vacations with my family. We always go on a vacation every summer, usually to the beach. My favorite was Hawaii.

One piece of advice you’d give an incoming freshman: If they’re from California, to buy a winter coat! I’d tell them to take as much advantage of the programs that Georgetown has to offer and to take advantage of being in the Nation’s capital.

What’s under your bed right now? My diving bag and a plastic tub from Target with sweaters in it. And my roommate’s laundry basket and a bunch of other junk that I don’t know.