Mel Wu Ready To Dive Into 2024
To wrap up 2023, we’ve got an exclusive interview with Aussie champion diver and Funkita athlete Melissa Wu after competing at the recent Australian Diving Trials for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships. Mel secured a spot on her 8th World Championship Team which she is using as a step towards qualifying for her fifth Olympic Games. Mel is open about her disappointment with her performance at the event, but having spent 20 years of devotion to her craft, she showed how a champion fights back. Check out the interview below and we can’t wait to see what a determine Mel can do in 2024.
FK: What does it mean to qualify for your 8th World Championships?
MW: To be honest I’m less focused on it being my 8th World Championships, and more focused on it being our last chance to qualify quota spots for Australia for Olympics next year. Usually we don’t have World Champs in an Olympic year, we have World Cup, so I guess that makes it a little bit special. But I am solely focused on the job I have to do.
FK: What events will you compete in at Worlds?
MW: I am competing in the women’s 10m individual and 10m synchro.
FK: We saw that you weren’t overly impressed with your own dives at the trials, what did you learn from these and how did you push through the competition?
MW: I knew I was doing too much this year but I continued to try and juggle everything, and as a result I sacrificed sleep, recovery, mindset and my health. My very disappointing diving at trials was the wake up call I needed to make changes in my life to get my physical and mental well-being back on track. Fortunately I had a day between my semi and the final and I used that time to give myself a good kick up the butt and take control of my mindset again. I usually have a very strong mindset but I had let a lot of negativity slip in this year, so I took that time before my final to refocus my mindset and I went into my final much more positive and determined. Going into the final I was a long way behind 2nd and 3rd place and had a lot of points to make up to get into the top 2 for selection. Fortunately my improved mindset and focus resulted in me winning the final round and pushed me up to second overall and selection on the team.
FK: What have you learned over the years for peak performance at the major meets?
MW: Consistency is one of the most important things for me when it comes to diving at my peak. Consistency is important in diving because you can’t afford to miss dives in a competition, but it’s also important in terms of daily habits and routines when preparing for competition. This includes things like making time for sleep, recovery and mindset. It also means making time for things like physio, video analysis, technique work, etc to improve performance.
FK: What about this sport and your journey provides you with the thrill and fun that you must have to keep pushing and competing.
MW: Diving as a sport is quite exhilarating and it’s an incredible feeling to spin through the air multiple times from a 10m platform and hit the water at 60 km/h. It’s an unbelievable feeling when you get a dive right and slide through the water perfectly. That feeling is something I constantly chase in training and competition and drives me to work hard to dive my best.
FK: What have you been doing outside the pool to keep yourself invested into the pool?
MW: Outside of the pool, I’ve always done a lot of video analysis, which I find very helpful and I’ve also recently started working with a tumbling coach to help me with my handstand dive. Both of these areas have helped me a lot technically, but I also focus on other areas physically and mentally such as recovery boots and mindset work, which are also a big help to my performance in the pool.
Good luck to Mel and all the Aussie divers set to compete at World Aquatics Championships in Doha in February 2024.