CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Summer Wildcat Claire Febvay will be competing for France in the 10-meter platform in Athens. Febvay has been diving for 14 years, and this is her second Olympics.

Claire Febvay returns to the games after best French performance ever for a French diver at the 2003 world championships

If any UA athlete at the Olympics knows a thing a two about the games, it is diver Claire Febvay.

The UA senior and French citizen competed at the Sydney games, finishing 35th, but after four years of hard work and the guidance of the veteran Olympic coaching staff at the UA, she is aiming higher on the 10-meter platform.

Febvay will be competing in her second Olympic games in a row for France.

"She's right where she should be; she's been on the world level for five years and this will probably be her last Olympics, although she certainly is physically capable of going through another one," said UA head diving coach Michele Mitchell-Rocha.

"Based on what I've seen over the years and her placement, she is not just there, she is a competitor," she said.

Febvay has known of her return to the Olympics for a while now, qualifying last summer with a seventh-place finish at the World Championships, the highest finish for a French diver ever.

"I'm excited to get another chance to go to the Olympics. I loved the atmosphere the first time around and now that I know a little bit more what to expect, I hope to dive the way I know to," Febvay said. "I think it's an honor to be able to represent your country in such a competition."

Mitchell-Rocha said she tried to emphasize to the French national champion that despite all the media coverage, the Olympics is the same competition, with the same dives and same atmosphere as other big meets.

"I just really try to help her with her perspective. In the games that I was in and the two that I commentated, the people that ended up being successful knew that their mom and dad would love them no matter how they did and had a perspective about the whole thing," Mitchell-Rocha said.

"As big as we want to hype the Olympic games, any athlete will tell you it is the same as any major championship, (it) just gets way more coverage."

The work of Mitchell-Rocha, a four-time U.S. Olympic Committee "Athlete of the Year" honoree, nine-time U.S. national champion and four-time All-American as a Wildcat, has ranged from television analyst for NBC and ESPN in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics and the X-Games to director of marketing for U.S. Water Polo.

Mitchell-Rocha's assistant coach is her husband, a former NCAA national champion at Auburn and Olympic diver for Mexico in 1984.

Mitchell-Rocha, a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, won silver medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.

Febvay said the Rochas have been a very positive influence on her, convincing her more things are possible.

"They have proven to me that I am capable of doing many difficult dives ... some that I never thought I could do, and doing them good too," she said.

"They (the Rochas) have always told me not to think about the final result before it's actually there. I cannot control what the other divers are doing anyway, so it makes sense to just focus on what it is I need to do on each dive," Febvay said.

An academic and athletic All-American who holds several school records, Febvay redshirted in 2003-04 to prepare for the games. In 2002-03, she won 10 out of the 11 possible diving events at Hillenbrand.

Mitchell-Rocha said the 4.0 student, who graduated in 3.5 years, leads by example.

"I have never had a more dedicated athlete, in terms of every workout giving 110 percent. She's usually the last one out of the pool," Mitchell-Rocha said.

"She is the most pleasant diver I have probably worked with on a daily basis and she's unbelievable.

"The strength coach says pound for pound she is the strongest athlete he has ever seen. She has been a tremendous asset to our team."

So with all she has learned, what does Febvay expect the games will be like?

"Hot. But with Tucson weather I am not really worrying about that one," Febvay said. "No really, I think it will be a lot of fun to see all those different athletes again, some of whom are good friends that I have not seen for ages."