It was an easier decision than Dan Mazzaferro had originally thought.

And it turned out to be a pretty good one.

Growing up, the Cheshire, Conn., native excelled at both gymnastics and diving. His goal was to one day make the Olympics. It didn’t matter the sport.

All he cared about was having a chance — an opportunity.

Then came his junior year in high school.

“I placed eighth in the nation in diving on platform when I was only diving twice a week for two hours a day,” said Mazzaferro, now a junior at Auburn University. “And I was in gymnastics six days a week for four hours each day, and I placed, I think, 13th or 15th in gymnastics.

“So that’s when I figured ... diving would be my best chance to excel in my dream of making the Olympics.”

Wednesday, Mazzaferro will be one step closer to that goal. The defending SEC 10-meter platform champion is one of 11 divers competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials next week in Indianapolis.

Mazzaferro needs to finish in the top six to advance to the Olympic selection camp. Then, the top two divers picked from the selection camp will represent the United States in the Summer Games in Beijing, which begin in August.

“It’s exciting to know that I’m going to be competing against the best divers in the nation,” Mazzaferro said. “The anxiety has been building over the last two weeks or so, and this last week has been the most. Just realizing that this is the biggest competition of my life right now.”

Then he paused, and corrected himself.

“… Hopefully not, hopefully the Olympics will be the biggest.

“I’ve been waiting long enough for this competition to come. I’m excited to go there and do my best.”

Along with winning the conference championship on the 10-meter tower, Mazzaferro made the finals in all three boards (1-meter, 3-meter and platform) in the NCAA Championships this season. His best finish was fifth in the platform with a score of 440.55. The AU junior also finished 15th on the platform at the 2008 USA Diving Spring Nationals.

Jeff Shaffer, Auburn’s head diving coach, who has also coached on the U.S. National team, knows what it’s going to take for Mazzaferro to be competitive at the Trials.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for Dan ...” Shaffer said. “It’s obviously the best of the best.

“I think right now, he’s been very consistent in his training. There’s some areas we need to focus on to get his score higher. Prior to this year, he’d never scored over 400 points on tower, and this year, he did it three different times. It’s got to be even higher than that (at the Trials).

“The thing that separates the elite from the very good diver is the total dive. Not just the takeoff, or what they do in the air, but the complete dive.”

Mazzaferro will perform 18 dives, with each counting toward his final score. But Shaffer says it’s more than just the highest score the judges will be looking for, especially with the new format of selecting the top six to move on to the selection camp.

“(The judges) are going to select the divers who are going to give us the best chance to win medals in Beijing,” Shaffer said. “They are looking for the most consistent athlete.

“In Dan’s situation, it’s a tremendous opportunity to get in there in an Olympic Trials format, to dive against the best divers in the U.S. and to see where he is and what we need to do between now and four years from now.”

And that’s what it’s really all about for Mazzaferro — the learning experience. Sure, he wants to make the Olympics this year, but just being on this stage will help him in his overall career.

“This experience is something that I’ll always remember,” Mazzaferro said. “And I can take many positive things from it. I see myself diving until 2012 as well.

“I’m thinking ... this is just another big meet and just to go out there and show them what I got.”

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