by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
Ex-UNM diver Becca Barras didn't expect to get a chance to compete at the Commonwealth Games.
That's why the silver medal she won in the synchronized 3-meter springboard at the event in Melbourne, Australia, came as such a surprise.
"I didn't even think that I'd get the chance to go to Australia in the first place," she said. "To get a silver medal is just crazy."
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Barras, a fifth-year sociology major at UNM whose athletic eligibility ended in spring 2005, is in her first year competing for the Canadian National Team.
Barras is originally from Kitchener, Ontario.
She and synchronized teammate Melanie Rinaldi's performance at the March 15-26 Commonwealth Games - a 71-country event that includes former territories of England - was even more impressive because the two hadn't done nearly as much practicing as the Australian team of Bree Cole and Sharleen Stratton that won the event.
"We competed and practiced a total of four times," Barras said. "In the press conference after the competition, the Australians said they'd been practicing together for six months. We heard that, and me and Melanie thought we did pretty well."
Barras, who competed in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard and platform at UNM, was the first Lobo diver to be named an All-American in 2005.
Now that Barras has a gauge for how good she can be in the synchronized 3-meter with Rinaldi, she has a new event to pursue.
"I think the fact that we did so well, it opened up a lot of doors for us," Barras said. "I really want to pursue that and get some more practice in to see what can happen with it."
Barras grabbed a spot on the national team, made of 10 females and 12 males, after her performance at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey, from Aug. 11-21. She placed ninth there, and has been on the national team ever since.
Barras still trains at UNM with Lobo diving coach Abel Sanchez. Sanchez coached her during her All-American performance her senior year. She said it is Barras' work ethic that has her doing things like competing for the national team.
"She's an exceptional diver - definitely one of the best athletes on campus," Sanchez said. "It's a combination of talent and the hard work she puts into it. Even though she's the best ever to come through here, she works twice as hard as anyone else."
Barras' next meet is in Rome, Italy, at the end of May. It's a good thing Barras loves to travel, because she might never have been inclined to compete for a spot on the national team if she didn't.
"I didn't even know what was going to happen with my diving after my four years here," she said. "I really wanted to travel, and now I've gotten the opportunity to go to Turkey, Australia and next to Rome. Next year, I want to travel to even more places."
The year after next though, she's got a specific destination in mind: the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. She said it's a goal she's pushed to the back of her mind, at least for now.
"The next Olympics is in 2008, so I don't know," she said. "It's hard to tell two years away from it, but yeah, it's something I'm thinking about."
Sanchez said Barras' Olympic chances are better than she likes to admit.
"She has so much talent, and she's capable of so much more," he said. "I think she can possibly make the Canadian Olympic team. She's the type of person that if she really wants to go out and do something, she can do it."
