Bio

A five-time All-American diver at Wellesley, Amy Ayres Parratto '83 was captain of the Blue swimming and diving team in both her junior and senior seasons. A cross-divisional New England regional champion on the 1-meter board (353.25) in 1981, her legacy at the national level begin at the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Championships, where she finished sixth in the 1-meter (332.45) and eighth in the 3-meter in 1982. The next year at the first NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championship in 1983, she was a dual All-American scoring 339.60 to place fourth in 1-meter and 375.55 to take third on the three-meter board.

When looking at colleges, I considered the quality of education, the location, the availability of financial aid, and the swimming and diving program. My initial draw to Wellesley College had to do with my family connection to the school. My mother, grandmother, and godmothers had all attended Wellesley!

In the spring of 1979, my high school swimming coach, Julie Widett, brought me on my first visit to Wellesley. The campus, classrooms, dorms, and Lake Waban seemed magical to me. When I met the swim coach, Nancy Jannarone, I knew right then and there that I wanted to attend Wellesley College.

The old Wellesley College pool had six lanes and a 1-meter board. Coach Nancy made arrangements for the divers to train at the Harvard pool a few nights a week. She even drove us to the practices! We shared the diving coach, Jamie Greacen, with Tufts and MIT. Jamie was fantastic and pushed me to learn a list on 3-meter. I was a bit of a chicken, but he had a great way of convincing me that I could DO IT!

My freshman year, I swam and dove at our conference meet. In between prelims and finals, I dove in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. After the meet, I was in the infirmary with an upper respiratory infection and back issues. Two days after recovery, I was off to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Nationals, where I did not dive very well. After that experience, Nancy and I agreed that I should focus on just diving at the conference meet.

My sophomore year, Jeff Deckama was the new swim coach. He was a great coach, but did not give the divers rides to the Harvard practices. We had to take an MIT shuttle from campus to the MIT campus and then take public transportation. Soon I was the only diver to continue this schedule. I went to Division III Nationals on both boards and made the final on 3-meter.

Junior year, Heather Barber came on board as the head coach. Now that I had decided to be a double major, the commitment to train off campus became even more challenging. I somehow found a way! I made the final on both boards at Division III Nationals that year. I continued the off campus training my senior year, but Jamie decided to go full time with his other career. My new coach was Pam Stone, a great former Harvard diver. Pam understood the stress of being a senior and the expectations and worries as you head into life after college. I could not have asked for a better coach and friend to replace Jamie. I had my highest finish at Nationals that year–fifth place on 3-meter and fourth place on 1-meter. A perfect way to finish up my collegiate diving!