Originally from Australia, senior diver Josiah Purss never thought he would get some of the opportunities that were given to him at Utah. Going into his final year as a Ute, Purss can’t help but reflect on his years at the U, and he is helping to set goals for this year’s team.
“[Coming to school here] has provided opportunities that don’t really exist in Australia,” Purss said. “Being an athlete and being a student in Australia is very separated where here in the United States, it is a lot more integrated. [These last three years] have been amazing. It has been an incredible experience. It has been a lot of fun and has been challenging, but really enjoyable.”
Named as one of this year’s team captains alongside senior swimmer Nolan Rogers, Purss hopes to set a good example for his teammates. Purss is currently working on setting goal words for each month, like gratitude and camaraderie, and he is trying to find actionable ways to demonstrate those words, not only to the team, but also to the entire community.
“Those are some of the things we are focusing on as team,” Purss said. “We also have a pretty young team. We have a lot of freshmen coming in so we are just trying to get them integrated in sort of college athletics and the lifestyle, help them get used to what it is all like.”
Head diving coach Richard Marschner feels like Purss will be an exceptional captain this year. Marschner thinks that Purss will lead the team in the right direction.
“He leads by example,” Marschner said. “He sets good examples in and out of the pool. He is definitely the hardest worker on the team, and it will do well to have people being able to look up to that and just follow his lead. He is going to do a great job.”
For Purss, committing to a goal and doing everything he can to achieve that goal is something he is known for on his team, and he hopes to leave that legacy behind.
“It might not be in the time frame I set out to do it, but I’ll eventually get it done, but I’m big on putting in hard work along the way,” Purss said. “I would like people to see the way I’ve worked towards my goals and maybe adopt some of my principles or the way I act to achieve [my goals].”
For his last season, Purss hopes to break 400 points on all diving boards. Purss added that he hopes to beat both the one-meter and platform record this year, which are currently held by former Ute Jacob Crayne.
“Hopefully, we get a top eight at NCAA’s from [Purss],” Marschner said. “We have been so close these past few years.”
Even though he hopes to accomplish some individual goals, Purss said he wants to see more people qualify for the NCAA Championships this year, almost doubling the number of qualifiers who went last year, and he hopes to also to move up in the national rankings at the Pac-12 Championships.
“We have moved up, I think nationally, 20 spots since when I first arrived [in Utah], and if we can keep heading in that right direction, break into the top 20 nationally and stay there, that would be really awesome,” Purss said.
As Purss and his team prepare for their first meet of the upcoming 2016-17 season, Purss hopes to unite the swim and dive teams and show that they can all come together to cheer each other on and fight for the win.
“Even though diving and swimming seem like individual sports, at the end of the day, we are a team competing together,” Purss said. “So doing well is about building each other up and helping each other do our best.”
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