Tanya Watson made history last summer becoming the first female diver to represent Ireland at an Olympic Games.
At the end of this month Watson will write a new chapter in the record books when she becomes the first female diver to represent Team NI at the Commonwealth Games, and she admits come a long way in the sport after her initial introduction.
“When I was younger, I remember standing on the edge of the 10 metre diving board and refusing to jump, I wouldn’t jump at all,” recalled Watson.
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“My dad wrote an email to one of my coaches saying, ‘Tanya is not going to jump of the 10-metre board please don’t force her to do it,’ which is funny now because it is my career and I literally jump off it all the time. So my coach always makes fun of that I was really scared as a kid.”
Watson’s first sortie into sport was gymnastics.
“I started gymnastics when I was aged four because my sister used to do it. I probably started before four because I used to come and bounce on the trampolines after her sessions, so they knew I was quite enthusiastic about wanting to do somersaults," she says.
“I did gymnastics until I was about eight years old and then I transferred to diving because I wasn’t enjoying gymnastics anymore.
“The diving seemed like a great opportunity and my parents could see I really enjoyed diving, so when I said I wanted to switch they didn’t really question it because they could see how much I enjoyed the sport.
“I have done diving since I was eight, so it has been just under 12 years.
“I got into diving because there were some people at my local primary school that came to do a presentation about diving, and they had test for us to see if anyone was inclined to be divers.
“I was invited along to a taster session, and I enjoyed it from them. At eight I really didn’t know much about the world and had never thought about doing diving before but I probably had seen diving before.
“It is weird to think if I had of been ill that day at school, I may not have found the sport as early.”
Watson was able to take some of her gymnastics skills over to the pool.
“There were definitely some transferable skills from gymnastics to diving," she added.
"When I was younger I had already learnt how to do the front and back somersault which is the basis of most of my dives, also things like being able to do a hand stand and most of all it is just like being able to do the basic fitness as a young kid and also having that little bit of discipline from being an athlete at a young age.
“I think it is just not about the physical attributes that you might have gained when you are a kid but also the determination because diving can be quite scary, so I think I gained courage from gymnastics.”
Watson quickly got over any trepidation about hitting the water.
“I don’t remember my first diving session, but I remember thinking that all the people that were way better than me were really cool. I thought it was impossible that I would be ever able to do those dives.
“I eventually got over my fear. I was kind of odd because the first really big dive I did of the 10-metre board was a handstand because from gymnastics I was always really confident of doing them and that was maybe my way of avoiding jumping of it because I was jumping off my hands instead of my feet.
“My first year competing internationally was really exciting. I probably underestimated what I was capable of. I qualified for the junior Worlds after that I qualified for the junior Europeans and it all went from there really.
“The junior Olympics was an amazing experience, it was great because that was the first time, I had a really big crowd and coming fifth was really cool, I had a great time.
“That year as well I went on to make the European final. I think that year was really good for my confidence in myself so going into the next year I was kind of knew what I was capable of, and I did my first senior international which were the Europeans.”
Watson qualified for the Olympics with her performance at the Diving World Cup.
“It was really cool. I don’t think I really processed it. I looked to the scoreboard, and I really wasn’t sure where I had finished because my qualification event was a bit up and down," she recalls.
“The second of my five dives in qualification wasn’t particularly good but thankfully I knew I had pulled myself up the table but wasn’t sure how far so when I looked and saw I made the top 18 for me honestly it was a sense of relief.
“I was trying to keep myself from getting too emotional because I still had to dive again the next day. It really sunk in the week afterwards, it was just saw nice when I saw my family, I was really happy, and it was just like right let’s go I’m actually going to do this so I was really excited.”
Reflecting on the Olympics, Watson saysTokyo was a Games like no other.
She added: “The experience in Tokyo was amazing and stuff that I will never forget. There wasn’t crowds there to watch you, but I had done the World’s and the Europeans that year without a crowd so most of us had got used to minimal crowds.
“I think all of us including myself were just grateful to be there and not having caught covid it really gave me a perspective when I walked out on that day to be fit and healthy and it meant I was really able to enjoy the event and go out and show people what I could do.
“In terms of the village I loved the diving board and all the different choices of food, walking round the village seeing the Olympic rings was surreal.
“It was just really exciting and I’m glad I got to enjoy the whole experience. My event was near the end of the games, so I got to stay for a nice long period of time in the village and I was able to watch some of the other diving events as well.
“I think the highlights were walking out that day, being able to compete and not being ill. I knew one of the only people across the world watching the diving events in person which was awesome.”
All roads now lead to Birmingham and a first appearance at the Commonwealth Games for Watson.
“To be the first female diver (Team NI) at the Commonwealth Games feels pretty awesome. I’m really excited to go out and perform," she said.
“The thing I’m most excited about is that there will be actually crowds and my family can come and watch. That is a real blessing that that is even possible.
“I was really excited when I found out and I’m ready to put in that final stretch of hard training.
“I am hoping I will be able to draw on my previous experience with big crowds. I do know what it is like to have my parents watching in person so I’m glad I’ve had that experience in the past to prepare e for big crowds.
“I’m looking forward to seeing all the international divers that I maybe haven’t seen in two years and just performing beside them.
“It is great just not seeing them but to be inspired and pushed by other people across the world, so I always really enjoy that at competition.
“My family and friends being able to watch and just being able to perform on a big stage again. We work really hard year all round to go to things like this.
“It is really rewarding to be at these events and I’m always so grateful to be there, not many people in the world get to experience things like that.”
There is a lot of preparation goes into Watson’s competition dives.
“In diving you should know what dives you are going to do in the competition, so I know what dives I’m going to do in the Commonwealth Games now because I have those five specialised dives that I train," she explained.
“I just don’t train on the 10m, I train on the 1m, the 3m and the 5m because and all of them I will add somersaults the higher I go up so I know what I’m doing in a competition.
“In terms of training, in one session I might chose to concentrate on my forward spin dive and my backward spinning dive, in another session I might chose to focus on the dive I do with a twist, or I might choose to focus on another group.
“Each session I discuss with my coach want the focus is. Sometimes a session may just focus on my entry into the water because mostly what the judges see is how splashy my entry is into the water, so we just spend sessions working on my entry and sometimes you just spend sessions working on the jump it really just depends on that week.
“Leading into a competition most of that week is spent on your competition dives.”
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