Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix shares advice on how she copes with pressure

Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix has had a breakout year in diving, winning three medals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games before a further three at last week’s European Championships in Rome.

The 17 year-old has achieved a lot at the start of her career and has shared how she manages the pressure of being at these major events.

Following her Commonwealth Games success she said: “That’s something (coping with pressure) I’m learning as I’m growing as an athlete but I try not to focus on the external pressure.

“As long as I keep the internal pressure under control, and it doesn’t overwhelm me, then I think that’s really important.

“But I’m learning, I’m going to make mistakes on the way and I’m really excited to see what the future holds.”

Spendolini-Sirieix won two golds and one silver medal in Birmingham, taking the titles in the Women’s 10m Platform and in the Mixed 10m Synchronised Platform event alongside Noah Williams.

She said that her performances in Birmingham all came from all the effort of her training.

“It’s definitely given me a lot of confidence but what I need to remember is that the success in competition comes from training and working hard and making sure that I’m communicating with my coach. So I’m just going to continue doing that and see what happens.”

‘The more you do it the braver you become’

Spendolini-Sirieix hopes that the buzz of the Games across the nation will lead to youngsters taking their first steps towards a lifelong love of the water.

“With it being in England and in Birmingham there was no time difference so people could watch as well as coming along in person.

“The sports really accessible so I hope it gets more people involved.”

The 2020 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year revealed her admiration of club environments and thanked her first club for their support.

“Crystal Palace talent tested me when I was younger and they were the reason why I got into diving. I’m really grateful to them for giving me the opportunity and to create the building blocks for my diving career.”

She shared her advice to those thinking about joining a diving club for the first time.

“Just start! It might look scary to begin with but the more you do it, the braver you become and the more you enjoy doing it.”