Name: Alex Volovetski Sport: Diving Year: Junior Major: Economics… Name: Alex Volovetski Sport: Diving Year: Junior Major: Economics and communication Favorite Food: Chinese Favorite Movie: Blow Favorite Band: The Used Favorite Sport to play (other than diving): Football Favorite Sport to watch: Boxing Favorite Oakland Spot: Mad Mex

Growing up in Florida, Pitt Junior Alex Volovetski had an early introduction to the sport of diving.

“My dad was a diving coach for all his life,” he said, “so it was kind of like a family legacy.”

Beginning at the age of 13, Volovetski eventually developed into a competitive diver. In high school, he led his team to a state championship.

As graduation neared, a close friend of his, Dennis, who was a diver for Pitt at the time, told Pitt’s assistant head diving coach Julian Krug about Volovetski’s talent. That led to Krug recruiting Volovetski, and eventually he found himself competing at the Division-I collegiate level here at Pitt.

“In high school I was kind of a big shot,” Volovetski said. “But when I got to college I had to work to get to where I’m at today.”

Last week, Volovetski helped lead the Pitt men’s swimming and diving team to a big win over last year’s Big East champion West Virginia.

“The hardest part was adjusting to the pool,” he said. “It wasn’t the best complex to dive in and compete. The pool was very dark. The boards weren’t the best. They’re very hard to dive off of.”

Despite the difficulties, Volovetski finished first in the 1-meter diving event with 388.42 points.

On the team, he sees himself as a quiet leader.

“I try to skip all the talk and lead by example,” Volovetski said. “Sooner or later people start following you.”

As for his future goals, he hopes to win both the Big East 1M and 3-meter diving events.

“My main strength would be 1M,” he said. “But I’m trying to improve in 3M. This year I’ve had to go through a change.”

Also, Volovetski plans on competing in the U.S. Open, in which he competed and finished sixth his freshman year.

“I want to at least medal this year,” he said.