La famille Sirieix will drink a toast to her accomplishments, regardless of the ultimate review. And then when the Olympic season comes, I’ll focus on that.” So right now I’m just focused on this season. And when that’s done, we start next season after the summer holidays. “I don’t really want to put any pressure on myself,” she says. Next summer, in the homeland of her father, her dual nationality will double the potential acclaim with the Olympics to be hosted in Paris. And for four or five minutes of somebody paying attention to you, it’s hours and days of hard work.”Ĭhasing history, if she becomes the first British female to win a solo world medal, it will further illuminate her star. “But it’s not like you’re in Hollywood and all that. “And if she does what she does at a high level, then of course there’s media attention,” he adds. “You learn by watching and seeing what’s happening. “She is faced with situations which we can talk about together at home,” Sirieix says. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianĪndrea inherits his wisdom. skip past newsletter promotionĪndrea Spendolini-Sirieix jumps into the pool in celebration after winning Commonwealth gold last year. Tom Daley has been on indefinite leave since his golden leaps in Tokyo and has made no firm commitment to a comeback. The past Olympic champions Jack Laugher and Matty Lee remain high-flyers but their profile barely causes a ripple. Increased attention will inevitably come her way during a fast-approaching Olympic year. “It’s being a rounded, balanced and kind person, which as a parent, I’m very happy about.” “Life is not just diving, it’s school, it’s her friends, it’s family,” says Fred. Remaining above water demands support from her parents, from her brother, from her coach, Alex Rochas. Because I’m very overwhelmed with a lot of things.” Plans are afoot to study a degree in sports journalism. That has meant freeing ample time to complete her A-levels in Spanish, English literature and history in recent weeks. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PAĪ need for equilibrium was one clue. ‘Andrea’s life is not just diving’: Fred Sirieix cheers on his daughter in Birmingham. “This year, I’m just figuring out what does. “It definitely helped me know what doesn’t work for me,” she says. Even at last year’s worlds in Budapest, expectations became dead weights. “I was quite ready to pack my bags and be done,” she says. She left Japan exhausted, her spirits sunken. The Covid Games were a leap into the unknown and the learning curve felt steep. Tangible advances made from the Tokyo Olympics where she finished seventh as the youngest member of the British squad. Crowned world and European champion as a junior in the individual 10m platform event, golds were purloined from the grownups across 2022. With serious – or Sirieix, if you will – intent. “I’m like: ‘Well, you see that concrete slab, I throw myself off of that, and I do some twists, and I do some flips.’ But it’s fun to describe it. Not so easy, is it? “They ask me: ‘Oh, so what do you do, do you just, like, spin?’” she says with a chuckle. Most would buckle with vertigo, knees trembling, at the reality of this long way down. She grins, no doubt in a satisfying retort to tiresome teases who have done her endeavours down. I mean, we throw ourselves off heights that most people wouldn’t even look off.” This is an abnormal pursuit at an age, Spendolini-Sirieix concedes, when contemporaries are set to let fly with school out. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardianīarely their elder, the young Londoner has now devoted herself to this craft for a decade, to plunges into the pool but also necessary grunt work on dry land: bouncing off trampolines, contortions in the gym – video analysis to boot. Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix takes a photo with her fellow medallists at the Commonwealth Games.
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