Become an Olympic Diver impossible?

Question

My friends say it's impossible for me to become an Olympic diver in the 2012 or 2016 Olympics. I have no diving or gymnastic experience. I'm 15 and will be 16 in November. Am I too old to try this? I also have a job (part time) and take flying lessons once a week plus school, so do I not have enough time to train? I haven't even told my mom cause I don't want her to think I'm weird. lol. The Olympics are so d**n inspiring though. My friend wants to do swimming against Phelps. Crazy! Anyways, thanks for your help! It's much appreciated.

Answer 1

Well tomorrow you would have to quit your job, you flying lessons, any social life  and school to train for the next olympics.  And even then, its pretty much an impossible dream.  But, if you want to dive to see if it something that you really like and might have a knack for then ask your mom for some diving lessons.  You might love it or you might hate it.  But it takes YEARS to learn some of those things they make look so easy.  I started diving when i was 7 and dove for 7 years. At 14 i was no where near good enough to ever compete on the international level...so i left competitions. Some people just have it and others don't.  If you are going to start something do it for fun, its good to be inspired!

By the way, i know how you feel (and this is going to make me old) in 1984 i watched mary lou retton win gold in gymnastics...ya i wanted to be her!!!  so i took gymnastics (and so did every other girl), ya i was pretty bad...but thats how i got into diving!!

Answer 2

I'll go out on a limb here and say that your friend is right -- it isn't possible for you to be an Olympic diver in 4 to 8 years. Why?

(1) You haven't even started. You don't know if you have any aptitude for the sport or, most importantly, if you enjoy it. Watching and doing are two different things.

(2) You have no coach and no training facility.

(3) You haven't admitted your "dream" to the people closest to you. Instead, you are anonymously asking strangers on the Internet for encouragement.

If you asked all the athletes leaving Beijing, I feel confident that no one would say, "I wasn't sure I could do it, so I posted a question on Y!A, and the people thought it was possible, so I started training."

If you are going to pursue an Olympic dream, *YOU* have to believe it like nothing else in your life. If you are concerned that your mother -- the one person above all who will want to see you succeed -- will think you are crazy, then I doubt that you are prepared to take on the nay-sayers of the world. Sitting at your computer and asking strangers for hints isn't going to get you there. Not even close. A "d**n the torpedoes" attitude has to come from within -- no one can hand that to you.

So -- STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER. Try diving. See if you like it. Don't come here asking strangers if you can attain the highest levels of the sport. Only YOU can provide the answer.

Answer 3

You will never know how good you will be until you take some lessons. There will be beginner ones available at your local rec centre. You will learn the rudimentary dives, and if you have what it takes, someone (most likely your coach) will notice and you will have YEARS of training ahead of you. Then you can start thinking about competitions! You have to learn how to dive! I was also weirdly inspired by the olympic diving.. and might even take some lessons.. lol Its nice to know Im not the only one!!