Back to her best

At just 22 years of age Melissa Wu is already a veteran of the Australian diving team, having first competed for the nation eight years ago as a 14 year old at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

In July 2014 Wu will compete at her third Commonwealth Games when she leaps off the platform in Glasgow, but this year marks the first time in a long time that Wu will hit the water without any significant injury worries.

“I’ve had my back injury for six years now and although I’ve been injured the whole time I’ve continued to train and compete every year,” Wu explained, having competed through injury to win Olympic silver in 2008, world championship silver in 2011, and Commonwealth Games gold in 2010.

“After the London 2012 Olympics I had a bit of a break, but after coming back, my back was still giving me trouble, so I decided to take the year off competing.

“I think it was a smart decision because my back is a lot better than it was, and so far I’ve had a great 2014 competition season.”

The road to recovery has been difficult for Wu, who said over the past 12 months she worked hard on strengthening her body’s core muscles, to not only focus on muscles which weren’t doing their jobs properly, but also take some of the stress off her troublesome back.

Yet as well as the physical ramifications of nursing injury, for a competitor like Wu there were also some mental hurdles she needed to overcome during her time out of the pool, which athletes sometimes find more difficult to deal with than the physical setbacks.

“It was the first time in eight years that I didn’t compete. Plus I’d been relatively uninjured in the months leading up to the 2012 Olympics, so it was frustrating dealing with those injuries again. It was hard to slow down and rest but I knew it would be worth it in the end,” Wu said.

“It’s frustrating when your mind is telling you that you can do something, but your body doesn’t agree. In my mind I knew what I was capable of but it was difficult to be patient and wait for my back to get better,” she continued.

“Looking back though, it was great to have that break because it revived my love and appreciation for the sport, and gave me the motivation I needed going into 2014.”

Wu confirmed her Commonwealth Games selection by winning the individual and synchronised 10m platform disciplines earlier this year at the trial event in Melbourne, results that she worked hard to achieve with Coach Cava Soprano.

“Prior to every competition this year, Chava and I have focused a lot on preparation and making sure I’m in the best possible shape before I compete. This has meant a lot of hard work in and out of the pool, but I can see it’s paying off,” Wu said.

“When I compete I try not to focus too much on the results and work more on the technical aspects that Chava and I speak about. If I do that then the results tend to take care of themselves, which is what happened at trials.

“Qualifying for World Cup and Commonwealth Games were my two main goals this year. I’m so happy I achieved them, and now that I’ve been selected I’m going to continue to work really hard in all aspects of my training so that I can get the best results possible.”

To add to Wu’s success, fellow NSWIS athletes Esther Qin and Matthew Mitcham also achieved Commonwealth Games selection under Sobrino’s tutelage. The NSWIS Diving Program is one of the world’s strongest diving programs outside of traditional powerhouse China, boasting the 2008 Olympic gold medallist Mitcham and 2008 Olympic silver medallist Wu. Since relocating to Sydney in 2010 Wu feels her diving has significantly improved under Sobrino’s watchful eye at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

“In the four years I’ve been at the NSWIS I’ve worked really hard on a variety of aspects of my training, including the quality and quantity of my dives, my strength programs in the gym and I’ve also placed a lot of importance on recovery and managing my injuries,” Wu said.

“I’ve also improved my consistency a lot and I’ve become a much better competitor since training with Chava.”

Wu is close friends with squad-mate Qin, who will make her Commonwealth Games debut in Glasgow. As a veteran of two Olympic and Commonwealth Games campaigns, as well as three world championship campaigns, Wu will pass on as much knowledge and advice to Qin as she can, but perhaps more importantly she will continue to be a close friend at a major international competition for the debutant.

“Having a great coach and a great team environment makes a huge difference to how I train and compete, and I’m really lucky to be in one of the best programs in the world. I think being great friends, having fun and eliminating as much stress as possible from the training environment makes the NSWIS team really strong. 

“There was a huge sense of relief when we all qualified, and we were all so happy for each other. I can’t wait to compete at Commonwealth Games with both my teammates!” Wu exclaimed.

“Esther and I are really good friends and it’s awesome that she’s going to her first Commonwealth Games.

“Hopefully I can help her in lots of ways as this will be my third Commonwealth Games and I have a lot of experience to draw from. I think the most important things I can help her with though are dealing with nerves and pressure,” she added.

Naturally Wu remains reserved about her aims for the Glasgow Games given her recent return from a long spell out with injury. She already has some positive results on the board, with a number of medals coming at the recent FINA Grand Prix events, but the result in Glasgow will more or less take a backseat to her preparation and in-competition procedures before and during competition.

“I prefer to focus more on the process when I’m competing than the outcome. I also think having solid preparation is key for me, so I’ll be training really hard between now and then,” Wu concluded.

“Hopefully if I can continue to train well and get everything right going into Commonwealth Games, I should be able to do really well.”