[1] Mitchell was born on January 10, 1962 in Scottsdale, Arizona, outside Phoenix and attended Arcadia High.

As a Junior in the 1977 season, Mitchell broke seven state records, and captured High School All American honors.

Mitchell was named an Academic All-American in 1983 and won the Tucson Conquistadores Sports Award that year.

Mitchell graduated Arizona in 1983 with an English degree, minoring in secondary education and athletic coaching.

[7] Increasing her opportunities to learn through observation, her dive mates at Mission Bay included Olympians Greg Louganis and Wendy Wyland.

After graduating the University of Arizona, Mitchell received dive training with Ron O'Brien's Mission Bay Makos in the mid to late 1980's, and lived primarily in the Fort Lauderdale area.

[5][15] Mitchell officially retired as an elite diver around 1988, spending her last competitive years training with Coach Ron O'Brien.

While with the Atlantic Diving Team, she and husband Luis Rocha were named Florida Gold Coast Coaches of the Year consecutively from 1992-96.

During the summer of 1996, she anchored the in-stadium radio broadcasts for diving at the Olympic Games in Atlanta and was the bungee jump analyst for the ESPN X-Games.