Australian diver and NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder Sam Fricker made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, competing in the men’s 10m platform event and won a bronze medal in the men’s synchronised 3m springboard at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Born in Newcastle, Sam had a strong background in gymnastics and trampolining before taking up diving at age 11. Just a year into his new sport he won a regional and national school’s title.
In 2015 Sam was offered a New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship and his family relocated to Sydney. At the 2015 National Age Diving Championship, Sam won gold in the 1m Springboard, 10m Platform and 3m Synchronised Springboard 12-13 age category events, as well as silver in the 3m Springboard, and was named Diver of the Year (12-13 years) by Diving Australia.
The young diver has won a slew of medals at junior national and international competition including bronze at the 2018 FINA World Junior Championships in the Mixed Team Event. In 2019 Sam became the first Australian to ever win the Dresden Youth International Diving Meet in the Boys Platform – winning by nearly 50 points
After earning a place on the Senior Australian Diving Team, Sam competed at the 2019 Oceania Diving Championships where he claimed silver in 10m platform event, missing out on the gold by just 0.15 points.
Sam was named on the Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo following his performance at the at the 2021 Australian Open Championships where he finished second in the 10m platform.
Sam is a member of the NSWIS Athlete Advisory Group.