Indiana University Athletics
Dream Big: From the Windy City to Towering Heights
9/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Sept. 1, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Before having a wildly successful maiden season for Indiana Diving, sophomore Christina Loukas learned the lessons of competition taught by the incredibly taxing business world inhabited by her father George. As the owner of a Chicago institution, the Cubby Bear, located across the street from Wrigley Field, George taught his daughter by example the determination needed to succeed in any competitive endeavor.
"When I was in sports when I was younger, it was really just for fun. I went with whatever I was good at," Christina said. "My dad's competitiveness, however, ended up affecting me. With his business, he has to keep trying for it to be successful. It wasn't successful when he first opened it. He just had to stick with it. That is how I was with diving. I just did it for fun, but then kept with it."
An incredible gymnast from early on, the Riverwoods, Ill., native stepped into a new world with her first entrance into the diving realm. Not only did diving give her a new avenue in which to excel, it began opening doors to brand new worlds for Loukas. In an interview with IUHOOSIERS.com, Loukas explained how she got into diving.
"I was a gymnast for 10 years, like 90 percent of divers," Loukas said. "I just did swimming and diving for fun at a country club I belonged to when I was young. I just had fun with it. I picked it up easy, because of my gymnastic background. My sister's boyfriend at the time was a diver at the high school. He took me to his club practice at Windy City Diving. I went to that once and had a lot of fun. I liked the kids there and the coach was really nice, even though I just showed up randomly in the beginning. I just kept going after that."
Once again, Loukas stepped through another door that would lead her to even greater success and life-changing experiences. After winning three consecutive Illinois high school state diving championships, Loukas moved on to tougher challenges when Indiana head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber came calling to recruit her to Indiana.
Her decision paid off as she completely dominated in her first season of diving. As a freshman, Loukas captured both the Big Ten Diver of the Year and Big Ten Diver of the Championships, while garnering a trio of All-America certificates at the 2005 NCAA Championships. Additionally, Loukas broke Sara Reiling-Hildebrand's school dual-meet record in the three-meter against Penn State. During her initial season, she also claimed seven event crowns and placed in the top three 15 times. In addition, Loukas placed sixth on the one-meter at the World Championships and also earned a spot on the World University Games roster that competed in Izmir, Turkey.
"I am still pretty shocked that all of that happened," Loukas said. "I wasn't expecting that to happen so soon. I had set those goals for the future. I was really excited when I was diving well. I felt like everything was coming together. Huber has helped a lot. He has done a good job of keeping me going."
Not only has diving opened up a new competitive world for the Big Ten champion, it has helped her start earning frequent flyer miles as a global traveler. Loukas explains her thoughts on competing at the World University Games in Izmir and the World Championships in Montreal.
"It was really cool seeing all of the different divers," Loukas said. "I was familiar with a couple of them from World Championships. Diving along with them was just an experience in itself. Especially watching the Chinese and competing with them was amazing. Just to be there watching them was great, because they are awesome. It just makes me want to try even harder and be like them. Hopefully, to eventually beat them."
Throughout her time at Indiana, there have been two people always at her side to help her achieve even greater success than Loukas could have imagined. The first is IU's legendary coach Huber.
"I think he has helped a lot because he may be a little bit intimidating," Loukas said. "For me, that is really helpful. He keeps me going and keeps me in line. If I am scared to do something, I will do it anyways because I am scared of what he'll do if I don't. My old coach at club was pretty laid back. She pushed me, but not as much as Huber does. He expects so much out of me. I try to live up to that."
Another person equally integral in helping Loukas to accomplish the big dreams she has developed during her time in Bloomington is 2004 Olympian and NCAA National Champion Cassandra Cardinell.
"She has helped a lot," Loukas said. "I am really glad she is here with us. Especially being up there on 10-meter with her. Being her synchro partner is kind of intimidating, but she keeps me going. She just pushed me even more. I want to be up there with her and not let her down. She has been really helpful. If I am ever scared or if anything is wrong, I know I can always talk to her and she helps me get through things."
With the incredible recent past in Loukas' diving history shining bright for anyone to see, the All-American's future looks even brighter as she continues to develop as a world-class talent. Loukas closed out her interview with IUHOOSIERS.com by relating exactly how big her dreams are for the next few years.
"In the next three years, I hope that I can win an NCAA title," Loukas said. "I also want to make it to the 2008 Olympics and get a trip to China. We'll see what happens."
Exactly. IUHOOSIERS.com will be keeping a close eye on the greatness ahead for Loukas, as we all will see what happens as she builds on the outstanding foundation set during her first season as a Hoosier.
"From where she started at the beginning of the 2004-05 season, Christina improved as much or more than any freshman with whom I have coached," Huber said. "This improvement is due not just to her physical talent but more so perhaps because of her dedication, coachability and her ability to take everything in stride. She is able to handle anything that comes her way. For example, although she never dived platform, she learned a list of extremely difficult dives up there and competed them in several meets. Another example is this summer in which she competed in every single event at least once on the international scene. She competed three-meter springboard and three-meter synchro at the Canada Cup, one-meter and three-meter synchro at the World Championships, and 10-meter and 10-meter synchro at the World University Games. She is an absolute delight to work with and I look forward to watching her continued improvement in the years to come. She was good this past year but watch for her in the next few years!"
