Her freshman year started off on a high note. In the first half of the 2001 season, LSU diver Jessica Wantz won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the Nike Cup Invitational, but the promising newcomer’s season was about to be drastically interrupted.
A week before the Southeastern Conference championships, Wantz woke up one morning with all the symptoms of mononucleosis. Later that day, her worst fears were confirmed when she was diagnosed with the disease that brings severe fatigue, headaches, sore throats, chills, fever and muscle aches.
“I got hit with all the symptoms in one day,” Wantz said. “At the time I was very distraught over the fact it happened right at the time of conference and NCAAs. Having gone through the entire season I trained for conference and NCAAs and having it happen right then was far more upsetting.”
Wantz was out of the water for four months.
“It was a major set back,” she said.
Eventually the Houston native returned to the water. At first, Wantz was restricted to the number of dives she could execute each practice, but gradually she regained her strength.
However, another obstacle would soon appear.
Wantz suffered a back injury and had to take another month off to let it heal. When she returned to LSU in the fall of 2002, she was faced with a tough decision.
The diving coach at the time, Scott Reich, announced in July of 2002 that he was leaving LSU to take the coaching job at the University of Arkansas.
Wantz had a decision to make. Should she follow the coach that recruited her or take her chances with Doug Shaffer, a coach she had never met?
“For the first two months Doug was here, I was thinking I was going to transfer and follow the coach that we had to Arkansas,” Wantz said. “Then one day I woke up and had a feeling I should stay.”
Wantz listened to her gut feeling and returned to LSU for her sophomore year. Shaffer came in and positively impacted Wantz’s training.
“I get frustrated really easily,” she said. “He helps a lot and talks me through a lot of things. He’s a great mood reader. He knows how to get the best practice out of me.”
With Shaffer’s help, Wantz excelled in her sophomore year. In her NCAA debut, Wantz finished fourth in the 3-meter event to earn All-American honors.
Wantz said she trained harder last year than she ever has. She said the adversities she faced early on in her collegiate career added to her motivation.
“I had a lot of other stresses going on outside of school and I just channeled that energy into training.”
Assistant diving coach and former LSU diver Kyle VanArsdall said Wantz has always been a talented diver but has experienced her share of bad luck through the years.
“She comes through when it counts,” VanArsdall said. “It’s about not giving up and that’s what she’s doing.”
This season, Wantz has to not only focus on her own training but also help lead the six new divers that have joined the team this season. Wantz is the only returning member of the diving team.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “There’s way more expectations in and out of practice.”
Pleased with last season, Wantz plans to train just as hard in hopes of improving. Being in the top five nationally, however, there isn’t much farther to the top.