Florida graduate diver Maha Amer poses during the Gators' senior day ceremony Friday, January 13, 2023. Photo by Ryan Friedenberg | The Independent Florida Alligator
Source: The Independent Florida Alligator
by Krisha Sanghavi
If you ask Maha Amer what brought her to Florida, she would say the Gators’ confidence and pride.
If you ask Amer why she stayed, she would say her support system.
She is a two-time All-American, the 2022 Southeastern Conference Co-Female Diver of the Year and a 2022 College Swimming and Diving Association of America Scholar All-American from Cairo, Egypt, who was a member of the UF women’s diving team from 2021 to 2023.
Amer’s diving career began when she was 7 years old in a gymnastics club in Egypt when her club coach noticed her talent and brought her into diving to launch a now seventeen-year career.
“My coach basically recruited me, told me I’d be good in diving,” Amer said. “We ended up sticking with it.”
Amina Khairy, Amer’s mother, felt Amer belonged to the sport because it challenged her.
“I think for Maha it was a bit unique, [Amer and diving] chose each other,” Khairy said. “It’s the challenge, the confidence, the strength, the art, the body. It’s everything.”