BY Indystar.com

Diving headfirst into the pro ranks
By David Woods The Indianapolis 17-year-old, who was recently honored as USA Diving's Athlete of the Year, is in the process of hiring an agent. ...

Thomas Finchum never will win an NCAA diving title.

He would rather win an Olympic medal.
The Indianapolis 17-year-old, who was recently honored as USA Diving's Athlete of the Year, is in the process of hiring an agent. While he won't earn near the money available to teenage basketball and baseball players, he will be eligible for prize money and endorsement deals.

Even with performance bonuses, Finchum's annual earnings might be less than $50,000. However, money is less of an issue than training regimen. NCAA divers are limited on hours they may practice under a college coach.
"Thomas is such a perfectionist," said his father, Tom, the athletic director at Lutheran High School. "We thought all along he wouldn't like diving in college, but he never said anything about it."

By renouncing college eligibility, Finchum may continue virtually full-time at USA Diving's national training center under John Wingfield, who has coached him since age 9. Finchum said he will attend college, perhaps at IUPUI. He is eligible to have tuition paid under a program for potential Olympians.

"We're still just trying to figure everything out because it's something new," Finchum said Monday.

Wingfield added: "It's pretty much new territory for the athletes instead of taking the scholarship and going on to college. I think our top athletes that are representing us internationally are getting younger and younger."

Evan Morgenstein, an agent for Olympic athletes, said the market is poor for divers. There are more opportunities for a retired icon such as Greg Louganis, he said, than for Laura Wilkinson, a 2000 Olympic gold medalist and 2005 world champion.

"Even Laura Wilkinson, with her gold, who knows who Laura Wilkinson is?" Morgenstein said.
Another agent, Daniel Gerritzen, suggested Finchum would become more desirable to the corporate world if he performs well at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and uses that as a springboard into 2012.

In 2007, Finchum won four national titles -- two with synchronized teammate David Boudia -- and 10 international medals.

The fact Finchum plans to compete through the 2012 London Olympics influenced his decision. He said he had looked forward to college because he has been home-schooled.
"I'm definitely going to still be able to make new friends and have that new college experience," he said. "Even if I can't dive for a college team, that sealed the deal."
Two other athletes -- Boudia, 18, Noblesville, and Kelci Bryant, 18, Carmel -- are concentrating on Olympic preparation and said they haven't decided whether to pursue college diving.

Boudia is considering Indiana University, Purdue and Texas. He said part of him wants to keep doing what he's doing now, and part wants to change.

"When I think about it, I still throw my hands up and I have no idea," Boudia said.

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