When Janneke Dirven wants to improve a certain technique or skill, all she has to do is look across her own pool.
The Ohio State University freshman artistic swimmer has three teammates–Ruby Remati, Scarlett Finn and Keana Hunter–who competed in this year’s Paris Olympic Games.
“It’s amazing being able to swim next to them,” said Dirven, a 2024 Los Gatos High graduate. “I always have my eyes open to see what they’re doing. If I can’t do a skill, I look at how they are doing it and I can’t help but to get better.”
Hunter and Remati won silver with Team USA in the team event, the United States’ first medal in the category since 2004. The resurgence of artistic swimming stateside has invigorated athletes like Dirven.
“Oh my gosh, it was so exciting watching Team USA in the Olympics,” she said. “It had been so long that we had even qualified for the Games, let alone medal. With all the publicity from this Olympics, I’m sure the sport will grow so much.”
Dirven isn’t the only local artistic swimming standout with Ohio State connections. Monte Sereno native Nicole Dzurko, a 2023 OSU graduate who still lists the Santa Clara Aquamaids as her home training club, was part of the 12-women U.S. team in February’s World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Dzurko competed for the U.S. squad in the acrobatic routine, helping the U.S. earn one of two bronze medals in the event—the other came in the free routine—and clinch a berth into the Olympic Games.
Dirven, 18, competes in a sport that demands an array of physical skills and mental toughness. Dirven needs tremendous strength to perform acrobatic lifts and twists, swim upside down and hold her breath underwater for minutes at a time.
She also needs to perform with flair, artistry and be highly technical in her movements, as minor mistakes lead to a deduction of points. Dirven landed in Columbus through sheer willpower and hard work. When she started with the Santa Clara Aquamaids as an 11-year-old, Dirven was on the ‘C’ team—the lowest level.
However, Dirven’s determination paid off, as she progressed and made the ‘A’ team before earning a spot on the 2021 USA National Youth Team. When she was in high school, Dirven trained 30-35 hours a week, somehow finding a way to balance sports and schoolwork.
“It was training before school and after school,” said Dirven, who is currently preparing for the upcoming college season, which starts in January. “A lot of mental work outside the pool as well.”
Even though Dirven had to sacrifice a lot of social outings with classmates, the sport has given her a community, sense of belonging and purpose.
“I’ve definitely made my closest friends in (artistic swimming),” she said. “From the Aquamaids to Ohio State, going to practice is my social time. That’s when I see my best friends. Being a part of a team that is working toward a goal and being pushed everyday, I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
In addition to making the 2023 USA Junior National Team, Dirven counts her performance in this year’s Primorje Cup in Croatia as the top highlights of her career. Dirven won gold in tech team, free team, free duet, free solo and acrobatic in the annual international event.
Dirven’s time at Ohio State–though brief–has been spectacular. The major highlight was taking the field alongside every Ohio State sports team during the halftime show at a home football game earlier this season—cheered on by the 104,000 fans in attendance.
“Oh my gosh, being at a football game, with that many people, is crazy,” she said. “Back in high school, I never really got to go to many football games, so I’ve been enjoying the experience here.”
Dirven chose Ohio State because it has one of the premier artistic swimming programs in the nation and a top-notch coaching staff. The athletic department earned brownie points with Dirven’s mom, Heather, when the two were in Columbus for Janneke’s visit.
Janneke was nursing a foot injury at the time and wearing a walking boot. During the visit, the school provided Janneke with a golf cart so she didn’t have to be on her feet often. The gesture sold Heather on Ohio State and gave her comfort that Janneke had made the right decision.
“My mom was not against me coming to Ohio State, but against it in a way (because it was far from home),” Janneke said. “Then she met the coaches and told me, ‘OK, I see why you want to come here. They’re going to take good care of you. So OK, this is good as long as you come back home in the summertime.’”
Dirven played every sport imaginable growing up, but dropped all of them to focus on artistic swimming full time when she was 11. The work ethic Dirven displayed early in her career has helped her make a relatively smooth transition to Ohio State.
The university recently had a fall mini break, but there was no rest for Dirven.
“We trained all day,” she said. “It’s been good. We want to win nationals, and for me personally I want to keep getting better. Right now, the sport and my schoolwork have all my time and focus.”
