Becoming a part of the Sun Devil Diving team was never part of the plan for a little Elizabeth “Libby” Thai, but sometimes, things are just meant to be.
Like most young women, her journey to becoming a DI athlete began as a little, vivacious girl who needed an outlet to channel all her energy. She landed in gymnastics, and the match felt like a perfect 10 right from the start.
“She was seven when her dad took her to a basic gymnastics class,” Libby’s mother, Lindsey Dalzell, reflected. “From the start, it was clear that she’s a very talented and gifted gymnast with a natural ability.”
While every mother believes their child is the best at their sport, no matter what, Dalzell wasn’t the only one to think Libby was a natural talent - she was progressing quickly. She was well on her way to reaching the highest level within the USA Gymnastics Development Program by the time she was 12 years old. ASU youth development camps turned into Olympic dreams, and the sky was the limit.
But then it fell apart in early 2019.
Libby developed osteochondritis dissecans, likely as a result of the constant weight-bearing and stress on her elbow joint from vaulting or tumbling. This condition primarily affects young athletes who participate in high-impact sports and many pitchers in baseball and softball.
Ultimately, Libby faced two surgeries, the first of which had failed, and two years of recovery time, and during the pandemic, to make it even worse.
And then the hits just kept coming.
“Libby was told she should not go back to gymnastics,” said Dalzell. “She was looking at another long time to heal after the second surgery, and once you’re out of gymnastics for two years, it’s really difficult to get back in.”
Needless to say, it was a devastating time for Libby and her family. “She was mourning a lot,” said Dalzell. “It was not a good time.”
Call it a mother’s intuition. Just like when Libby was little, her mother, Lyndsey, saw the need for a new outlet to channel Libby’s energy.
“I knew I needed to get her back into some kind of sport because she was just so depressed,” Dalzell recalled. “I knew that diving could be a possibility, so I began reaching out to every club in the area. The only person who replied to me was Marc Briggs.”
The Sun Devil Diving Club
Independent of Arizona State University, the Sun Devil Diving Club offers a learn-to-dive program up to Junior Olympics and College prep. The Club also creates an environment that fosters students’ mental, physical, and social growth. Diving also aims to instill responsibility, a strong work ethic, and a commitment to excellence, both in and out of the pool.
In addition to all those values of excellence, the Sun Devil Club would quickly become the next place that Libby would channel her energy and, once again, excel at a sport, mainly because the movements of diving and gymnastics are fantastically similar.
“There are a lot of similarities in terms of the conditioning and the flexibility, overall body strength, core strength, and the mindset of flipping and twisting,” explained Briggs. “But gymnasts are trained to land on their feet every day. Divers go to their heads. Some gymnasts who come to diving find that it is a real struggle to learn.”
Diving wasn’t a sure shot for Libby. She still had the issue with her elbow; not all gymnasts translate into great divers. But it was a chance worth taking.
“I could tell Libby was an ex-gymnast based on her form,” said Briggs. “She came in and got to work, and surely enough, she kept progressing and improving.”
More importantly, she mastered that hardest part first.
“Right away, she could fly in vertically on her head. I thought, ‘Okay, this is going to work.’”
Being a Sun Devil is more than just what you do on the field. It’s also about what you do in the classroom, and Libby’s high academic ambitions. At her high school, Arizona College Prep, one of the most academically challenging schools in the state, she maintained a 4.8 GPA while enrolled in several AP courses.