Katura Horton-Perinchief begins the final chapter of her life as a college diver tomorrow ? and she couldn?t be more thrilled with how it?s set to unfold.

The Bermudian, who last weekend qualified for the NCAA Diving Championships, will pit her springboard and platform prowess against the best at collegiate level in the three-day season crescendo at Perdue University.

?It feels great (to be going). I?ve been in college diving for four years and this zone (A) was tougher than the other zone I was in at the University of Texas because this zone only had four spots available,? she said.

The three-metre springboard is her most likely chance of excelling and with that in mind, as well as the limited time between her zone meet and finals, she is simply trying to maintain her current form while not aggravating the shin splints in her right leg.

Though she did not win any of the boards in the Zone A showdown ? qualifying as a top finisher in the three-metre competition ? Horton-Perinchief is confident that she is sufficiently capable of making the most of her only trip to the pinnacle of college competition.

?At this level it?s anybody?s game. It?s who performs on the day. I?m going to go in and dive the best I can and hopefully make it to the semi-finals and finals,? said the George Washington University student.

?Three-metre (springboard) is definitely my best chance to do well but I?m going to compete all three boards and we?ll see.?

Regarding her ailing leg, the 22-year-old was extremely upbeat, stating it is on the mend and is hampering her less than before.

?The leg has definitely improved but we are still playing it safe in training. Knowing that three-metre is my best event we?ve concentrated on that but I?m still practising the one-metre (springboard) and platform ? just not my big dives on those.?

The Olympian starts NCAA finals with the one-metre competition tomorrow followed by the three-metre on Friday and the platform event thereafter.

Asked what would constitute a good performance for her, she replied: ?I just want to dive well ? 11 dives on my head. All I can hope for is a repeat of Zones.

?In the three-metre, I did ten of 11 dives really well at Zones. I missed one a little bit but I was really pleased with my three-metre event at Zones even though I ended up third. It was a tough competition.?

Horton-Perinchief, who was beaten by two rivals from Yale and Penn State against whom she had never competed, explained that the three-metre tussle was ?obviously a three-horse race? between her, the winner and the runner-up.

?We were neck-and-neck the entire time and the points were close in the end,? she recalled.

The next day she placed fourth in the one-metre event despite leading after the preliminaries. However, just as her NCAA fate was narrowing down to the platform competition, it was announced that she had advanced to the NCAA Championships because the runner-up in the three-metre springboard won the one-metre event. Therefore, as the runner-up in three-metre also qualifies for the NCAA finals, that berth was passed down to Horton-Perinchief who had finished third overall.

?After I found that out, I didn?t push myself in the platform competition. I competed platform so I can do it at NCAA finals but I didn?t do any of my big dives to aggravate my leg,? she continued.

?I treated it throughout Zones and it didn?t give me that many problems. I was able to do my full approach and I achieved my goal of getting to NCAA finals. Now this is it.?

The Colonial acknowledged that amid the euphoria of the moment and, of course, meeting up with long-standing friends, the championships may prove nostalgic as they are also her collegiate farewell.

?It may be a little (nostalgic) because it?s been four years in a row of college competition and now it?s just going to be training for major meets without any competition in between,? she reflected wistfully.

?Training on my own without a team ? that?s going to be different.?