Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix has the world at her feet but even Britain’s newest diving sensation has had to dispel doubts along the way.
After a summer in which Spendolini-Sirieix, the daughter of TV star Fred Sirieix, won two Commonwealth titles and two European crowns, she has been catapulted to a level of stardom in the diving world previously reserved for Tom Daly.
She turned 18 last month, and her breakthrough season has been recognised as she was crowned National Lottery Awards 2022 Athlete of the Year after a public vote in which more than 11,000 people voted.
Despite all that, Spendolini-Sirieix admits that there were moments where she found it hard to keep going, with the support of those closest providing the drive to push on.
She explained: “Not every day will be a perfect day, everyone has their ups and downs but I want to share my story and say that it’s okay to not be okay all the time. It’s okay to speak about your problems and be open about how you are really feeling.
“I want to inspire people to chase their dreams and not give up. If you want go for your dream, go for it but you need to put all your effort into it and really go for it. And have fun, what I’ve learned this year is that I need to have fun and I need to enjoy what I do to be able to go far.
“I’m very proud of how far I’ve come this year and very happy that I didn’t give up. It’s mind-blowing. It feels good to know that my hard work is being recognised and it’s not going undetected.
“In competition it’s very stressful and I have to juggle a lot of things. I have to juggle school and exams and training and all of this. At times, it becomes very overwhelming and it’s very hard.
“I’m not perfect, and I will never be perfect but I do try very hard. I will put everything into training, so it’s very rewarding. It gives me a lot of confidence going into next season knowing I have so much support.
“And I know they will never judge me if I say ‘today I need to take it a bit easier because I’ve had a bad day’. I’ve got a lot of love and a lot of support and this award makes me realise that people really do care about me and it’s a beautiful realisation.”
Spendolini-Sirieix was just 16 when she qualified for the Olympic final in the 10m platform in Tokyo, finishing seventh in front of an empty Aquatics Centre in the Japanese capital last summer.
That performance is all the more impressive when you consider that she struggled with anxiety in an environment in which even experienced champions like Adam Peaty admitted it took time to adjust to the empty stands.
Back in front of a packed arena in Birmingham this summer, including her closest family, Spendolini-Sirieix flourished, winning both the 10m platform and the 10m mixed synchro with Noah Williams, in addition to a silver medal in the 10m synchro alongside Eden Cheng.
She followed that up with two more golds in Rome, the individual once again, and the synchro with Lois Toulson, in their first competition together.
It was a far cry from the eight-year-old who was scared to get into a pool.
She added: “Ten years ago seems so far to me, I was afraid to jump off the poolside and now I’m jumping off 10 metres. What I achieved at the Commonwealth Games, with three medals, two PBs and then in Rome, I was exhausted emotionally, mentally, physically but I was still able to push through.
“But I couldn’t do anything without my family, without their sacrifices. My mum and my brother would come and watch me train for hours on end. If I’m training and diving and found it so long, I can’t imagine how long it was for them. But I’m very grateful for all the support, the support of my coach, my friends and family, The National Lottery.
“My coach always says that hard work beats talent, and I worked so hard. All the blood, sweat and tears are worth something. It was nice to have a home crowd, a huge home crowd, and then with my family as well after they couldn’t come to Tokyo.”
The next objective for Spendolini-Sirieix is the World Junior Championships in Montreal next month – a reminder of how young she is.
And then there is Paris, less than two years away now, and an event that will hold extra significance considering her upbringing.
She added: “Paris is very close to my heart because I’m half-French and it’s said to be the closest you can get to a home Games.”
No-one does more to support our athletes than National Lottery players, who raise more than £30 million each week for good causes, including grassroots and elite sport. For information on The National Lottery Awards, visit lotterygoodcauses.org.uk and follow on Twitter @LottoGoodCauses #NLAwards.
