Indiana University Athletics
Student Spotlight: Jessica Parratto
2/6/2017 9:20:00 AM | General, Women's Swimming and Diving, Student-Athlete Services
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Jessica Parratto knows what good coaching looks like.
She was raised by two of them. Her parents, Mike and Amy Parratto, coached at the Seacoast Swimming Association in Dover, New Hampshire. Jessica's mother was her diving coach until 2009, when she moved to Indianapolis to train with USA Diving. Her father, Seacoast's head swimming coach for 27 years, is known for developing four-time Olympian Jenny Thompson.
"I've always been inspired by Jenny, and that kind of sparked my desire to be an Olympian," Parratto said. "Ever since then, diving slowly became my primary focus."
Thompson has been like an older sister to Parratto since she was born in 1994, around the time that Thompson was at the peak of her swimming career. And while she looked up to Thompson's eight gold medals and sustained success at the top level, Parratto always knew the secret was in how she worked with her coach.
"She and my dad had a great connection in the pool, which was awesome to witness," said Parratto. "I always wanted that sort of connection with a future coach. My mom was an amazing coach that developed me as a diver, and I had a great coach as a junior diver. But Drew (Johansen) became that person during my transition to college."
Parratto found what she was looking for with Indiana head coach Drew Johansen. After seeing what a strong connection to a head coach did for Thompson's Olympic career, Parratto knew the importance of having someone who understood her strengths and aspirations.
One reason they work so well together, according to Parratto, is that she respects Johansen's approach to training. He's an innovator, always on the cutting edge of the technology available to the sport. It's on display at every diving practice at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center: cameras in place above and under water, replay TVs behind the springboards and high-speed cameras.
"Drew discovers a new technology almost every day that he wants to implement into our training," she said. "He's doing it right now—we're getting new cameras in a few days. That is a huge part of diving, it's critical to learning what we can change or improve in our dive."
Johansen, according to Parratto, coaches outside of the box. That relentless approach has guided Parratto to a quick trophy haul. She won the Big Ten and NCAA titles as a freshman in 2015, leading to an Olympic redshirt decision the next season. At the USA Olympic Diving Trials, Parratto took the top spot in the platform event before she and IU alumna Amy Cozad won the synchronized platform event.
Parratto fulfilled a life-long dream last summer in Rio, representing Team USA at the 2016 Summer Olympics. After watching Jenny Thompson and her father together in Atlanta, Sydney, and Athens, Parratto was able to have her Olympic moment.
A moment she got to share with Johansen, who was the head coach of Team USA for Parratto's debut games.
"I didn't have a lot of expectations going in because I didn't want that to derail my psyche," Parratto said on her 10th-place platform finish in Rio. "I improved on that mark in the semifinals and split up the Chinese in the results, and they're the best in the world. I never thought that would happen to me. It showed I can contend with the top divers going forward."
Parratto has plans to return to the Olympics. In that time, she hopes to repeat as a Big Ten and NCAA Champion while helping her teammates toward a high finish in the team title race. She hopes to make the podium at a world meet, hopefully more than once, as she takes aim at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Amidst all of Parratto's hopes, one thing is certain, she wants a coach like Johansen in her corner.
"He is always looking for a way to improve, stepping outside of the box and doing things other coaches wouldn't think of doing," she said. "That's what makes Drew so special. He's always trying to take the next step and the extra measures to get an advantage."
She was raised by two of them. Her parents, Mike and Amy Parratto, coached at the Seacoast Swimming Association in Dover, New Hampshire. Jessica's mother was her diving coach until 2009, when she moved to Indianapolis to train with USA Diving. Her father, Seacoast's head swimming coach for 27 years, is known for developing four-time Olympian Jenny Thompson.
"I've always been inspired by Jenny, and that kind of sparked my desire to be an Olympian," Parratto said. "Ever since then, diving slowly became my primary focus."
Thompson has been like an older sister to Parratto since she was born in 1994, around the time that Thompson was at the peak of her swimming career. And while she looked up to Thompson's eight gold medals and sustained success at the top level, Parratto always knew the secret was in how she worked with her coach.
"She and my dad had a great connection in the pool, which was awesome to witness," said Parratto. "I always wanted that sort of connection with a future coach. My mom was an amazing coach that developed me as a diver, and I had a great coach as a junior diver. But Drew (Johansen) became that person during my transition to college."
Parratto found what she was looking for with Indiana head coach Drew Johansen. After seeing what a strong connection to a head coach did for Thompson's Olympic career, Parratto knew the importance of having someone who understood her strengths and aspirations.
One reason they work so well together, according to Parratto, is that she respects Johansen's approach to training. He's an innovator, always on the cutting edge of the technology available to the sport. It's on display at every diving practice at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center: cameras in place above and under water, replay TVs behind the springboards and high-speed cameras.
"Drew discovers a new technology almost every day that he wants to implement into our training," she said. "He's doing it right now—we're getting new cameras in a few days. That is a huge part of diving, it's critical to learning what we can change or improve in our dive."
Johansen, according to Parratto, coaches outside of the box. That relentless approach has guided Parratto to a quick trophy haul. She won the Big Ten and NCAA titles as a freshman in 2015, leading to an Olympic redshirt decision the next season. At the USA Olympic Diving Trials, Parratto took the top spot in the platform event before she and IU alumna Amy Cozad won the synchronized platform event.
Parratto fulfilled a life-long dream last summer in Rio, representing Team USA at the 2016 Summer Olympics. After watching Jenny Thompson and her father together in Atlanta, Sydney, and Athens, Parratto was able to have her Olympic moment.
A moment she got to share with Johansen, who was the head coach of Team USA for Parratto's debut games.
"I didn't have a lot of expectations going in because I didn't want that to derail my psyche," Parratto said on her 10th-place platform finish in Rio. "I improved on that mark in the semifinals and split up the Chinese in the results, and they're the best in the world. I never thought that would happen to me. It showed I can contend with the top divers going forward."
Parratto has plans to return to the Olympics. In that time, she hopes to repeat as a Big Ten and NCAA Champion while helping her teammates toward a high finish in the team title race. She hopes to make the podium at a world meet, hopefully more than once, as she takes aim at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Amidst all of Parratto's hopes, one thing is certain, she wants a coach like Johansen in her corner.
"He is always looking for a way to improve, stepping outside of the box and doing things other coaches wouldn't think of doing," she said. "That's what makes Drew so special. He's always trying to take the next step and the extra measures to get an advantage."
Players Mentioned
Diving
/ Women's Swimming and DivingFB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Bray Lynch - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Spring Practice - Curt Cignetti Press Conference
Thursday, April 16