Remaining in Orlando allowed Brittany Viola to continue on a path toward the 2004 Olympics.
By SHARON GINN
Published July 12, 2003
To say her worries differed from those of the average 13-year-old girl was an understatement. Orlando's Brittany Viola had a big decision to make, and it had nothing to do with figuring out what to do with her hair or how to subtly let some boy know she liked him.
It was up to her: break up the family or not. Move to Cincinnati or not. Give up everything in Orlando for a shot at the Olympics ... or not.
Such is the life of an elite gymnast at a crossroads. After the painful realization that things weren't working out with her coaches in Orlando, she had a chance to move to Ohio, train with a top coach and bring her mother along.
But just her mother. Dad Frank - he of Twins pitching fame - and siblings Frankie and Kalie were to stay behind.
For Viola, it was too much. She said no. And three years later, much to her family's astonishment, no one can doubt her decision was the right one.
A few months after she quit gymnastics, the Orlando Lake Highland Prep swim coach noticed Viola fooling around on the diving boards during a PE class. He asked if she would consider joining the school's diving team.
It wasn't long before she found herself at the doorstep of Team Orlando Diving's Jay Lerew, who coaches 2000 Olympian Mark Ruiz, himself a former teen phenom.
"Little did we know," said Viola's mom, Kathy, "that (Lerew) was the Olympic 2000 coach and trained (divers) five minutes from our house."
Thanks to natural talent and Lerew's guidance, Viola has a shot at the 2004 Olympics after all. Only in a different sport.
Viola, who made the U.S. senior national team only two years after taking up diving, has the chance Sunday to take another step toward the top of the sport. She will team with 2000 platform gold medalist Laura Wilkinson in the 10-meter synchronized diving at the world championships in Barcelona, Spain.
The event, portions of which are scheduled to be shown at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2, will be the biggest yet for the soon-to-be high school junior.
Wilkinson and Viola finished second two weeks ago at the U.S. championships in Indianapolis. They paired up early this year when Wilkinson asked Viola - nine years her junior - to be her partner.
It isn't hard to see why, said Lerew, who describes Viola as a total package of strength, grace and dedication. Most of all, he said, "She's fearless." That quality has allowed Viola to advance this far so quickly, and it is one even her father admits he doesn't share.
The former Twins left-hander, who spent 16 years in the major leagues and was the 1987 World Series MVP and the 1988 American League Cy Young award winner, said while his daughter's progress has been amazing, it hasn't surprised her family as much as some might believe.
"Her work ethic, her way of approaching everything in her life, when she sets her mind to something, she's one of the few people who can get the job done," said Frank Viola, who made Orlando his permanent home 20 years ago.
"She's one of the toughest kids you'll ever meet. Injurywise, mental toughness. She has it all. That's something I'm still looking for. That's something you're really born with."
That toughness means Viola doesn't hesitate to climb back up the platform after a wipeout, some of which have resulted in coughing up blood. This sets her apart from even some of the world's best 10-meter divers, many of whom acknowledge anxiety can influence routine dives from that height.
"It's lots of fun," Viola said of tower diving. "I'm not scared or anything."
It was the same in gymnastics, where multiple fractures weren't enough to make her quit. Her problems in that sport went far deeper than bumps and bruises.
As an elite junior international-level gymnast, Viola as recently as 2000 competed alongside gymnasts such as Courtney Kupets and Ashley Postell, who won events at the world championships this year and are top contenders for the 2004 Olympic team. But Viola said personality conflicts with her coach in Orlando made her realize she had to go somewhere else.
She and Kathy tried Cincinnati for four weeks. While she enjoyed working with Mary Lee Tracy, coach of Olympians such as Jaycie Phelps and Amanda Borden, she told her parents she couldn't take the separation from the rest of her family.
"She was 13, and she was smarter than us," Kathy Viola said. "We're looking at each other saying, "We can do this.' She had a great shot at being able to make the Olympics. Aside from that, she was just a beautiful gymnast. We hated to see her give it up."
Her parents agonized, but Viola moved on. She spent more time with her friends at Lake Highland and joined the volleyball team. Then came her chance encounter with the diving board. She tried three high school meets. Then schoolmate Matt Bricker - now a member of the U.S. diving team - introduced her to Lerew.
Viola caught on quickly.
"She sort of fell in love with it," Lerew said.
"With gymnasts, it's funny. They either know how to go in head first or they don't. She was basically the whole package. You don't come across that very often. She has ballet-type lines. She does everything she's told. And she loves to come to practice, and she loves what she does."
Viola said she responds better to the atmosphere in diving, which she and her parents characterize as lower-key and less cutthroat.
"(Lerew) just worked with me, and I ended up doing everything he said," Viola said. "It's so much different from coaches in gymnastics. Jay never yells at me."
So far, he has had no reason to. While she took immediately to platform diving, she also has excelled on springboard. Most of her focus this year, however, has been on platform and developing her partnership with Wilkinson.
It has been harder to synchronize their schedules than their diving. Viola has flown frequently to Texas, where Wilkinson trains.
As an individual, Viola finished ninth on platform at nationals, which kept her off this year's national team.
But Lerew said she has "a very good shot" to make at least one event at next year's Olympics, which for the second time will include synchronized diving. And long term, "there is no limit to what she can do. Talentwise, she's as good as anybody in the world, including the Chinese. I think just experience is what she needs."
At diving, yes, but by now, Viola is accustomed to the pressures of high-profile athletics. If she needs guidance, there's always Dad to offer perspective.
"It's kind of cool, actually," she said of being the daughter of a famous athlete.
"A lot of people stop him and ask for his autograph. Then at world trials (this spring) these little girls were running up to me and asking for my autograph. I was like, "Oh my gosh.' My dad was like, "Nice signature.' I guess I have to work on it."
