Mia Sabin dives into the record books

Sophomore Mia Sabin, a graduate of Anoka High School, has been diving since she was in 10th grade. She participates in the one-meter and the three-meter dive. A family friend drew Sabin to CSB. Coach Jon Hazen was seen as upbeat to Sabin and she knew she wanted to dive for him.

“She brings a great dynamic to the team that would be missed if she wasn’t on it. I’m excited to watch Mia grow as a diver and a person throughout her college career,” Hazen said via email. Sabin is very supportive of every diver on the team. She is always encouraging her teammates according to Hazen.

Sabin is known for her bubbly, positive attitude according to junior diver Kiley Egger.

“She is the most outgoing. She brings a lot of fun and is very energetic,” Egger said.

Being part of the tight-knit diving squad, Egger believes Sabin has the keys to succeed in diving.

“You can do anything you want if you are decently in shape, but you have to be mentally willing to do things” Egger said.

Egger has seen Sabin overcome obstacles and grow in her time at CSB. One particular obstacle was overcoming the three-meter dive because these times of dives are not very common in high school diving. According to Egger, diving is all about overcoming your fears and being mentally strong.

Sabin’s main motivation for this upcoming year is to actually have a season. She strives for a positive mindset and wants to contribute by motivating her teammates. Sabin believes that everyone on the team has something different to contribute.

“I really just wanted to have a season because I really like being with my teammates. They help me stay positive,” Sabin says.

Loading up on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and listening to “Buy U a Drank” by T-Pain before meets, Sabin considers herself a semi-superstitious athlete.

“I don’t have a specific routine that I do every single time, but I would say I am superstitious during the meet. Once the meet has started, in between dives, I usually do the same stretches, wear the same suit, wear the same cap, that type of stuff,” Sabin said.

Pre-COVID, Sabin’s favorite memory last year was the week of MIACS. The team stayed in downtown Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota for four days while the MIAC championships took place.

“It is a really good team bonding experience because we are down there for so long. It is pretty stressful, so we lean on each other,” Sabin said.

In the 2020 MIAC championships, Sabin qualified for both the one-meter dive and the three-meter dive. She placed 7th and 10th respectively, as a freshman. She earned 371.80 points and helped solidify that CSB had three divers on the MIAC podium, for the first time since 2015.

Sabin’s favorite dive is a front one-and-a-half full twist, which looks like a somersault in the air, while turning 360 degrees. Sabin is also on the board for team records. She has the fifth best three-meter dive and the 6th best overall score in program history.

Outside of the pool, Sabin is a computer science major with a psychology minor. She is looking to go into cybersecurity. Her dream job is working for the FBI as an intelligence analyst. Sabin looks forward to her next three years at CSB and expects to continue to break school records.