Getting to know Domonic Bedggood and Cassiel Rousseau

Domonic Bedggood and Cassiel Rousseau will be competing in the Men’s 10m Synchronised Diving at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Domonic was a finalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the men’s 10m platform, and holds five Commonwealth Games medals. Cassiel became the first Australian Men’s 10m platform World Champion in 2023 at the World Championships in Japan. Together, Domonic and Cassiel won Gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in the Men’s 10m Synchronised event.

This is the second Olympics for you both, is the excitement the same for the second time selection?

Cassiel: It feels great. I feel like the first one is just kind of like a tester and just seeing what the Olympics is about, and now that I have that experience behind me, it’s about trying to put the whole Olympics aside and just competing as best as I can.

Domonic: Yeah, it’s very exciting. Cassiel’s last Olympics was the Tokyo Olympics, my last Olympics was the Rio Olympics in 2016, so, it’s been quite some time but I’m excited to get out there and especially alongside this guy and just see what we’ve got at the end of the day.

Synchro diving is a bit like a ‘team sport’, how do you manage to make a great dive work?

Domonic: With synchro it’s very interesting because you want to have that kind of, not telepathic, but you almost wanna be in the same mindset and have the same goals for each dive so that you’re on the same page. So for diving, a lot of people see it and they kind of wonder how it is we take off together at the same time and do all the same spins. It’s a lot of practice in the foam pits and we also we do this thing where we count, so in our team I’m the counter and I say ‘Ready, one, two, three, go,’ and then fingers crossed we go on the same time.

Is there anything you do outside of the pool to be better as a team?

Cassiel: So I do Individual as well, and it’s a really nice break to come into the synchro and work with Dom and to compete with him and train with him. It’s just, a whole different aspect of diving compared to individual and you know, this for me, is just a lot of fun and, he kind of helps me in a way where his form is just excellent and my form isn’t so great, so I can get a bit of his form (laughs).

Domonic: We’re very lucky to be very close friends outside the pool, you don’t necessarily have to be best friends, but we’re very fortunate, I’m very fortunate that Cass is someone that at the end of the day, you can go get a beer with after comp. We talk about not just diving, but things in our lives and we’re curious about what’s going on and we really care about each other other than a diving aspect, o that helps a lot of our synchro as well.

How would you describe each other in three words…

Domonic: Ooh, for Cass… sporadic, fun, honest.

Cassiel: He’s fun, he’s very smart both inside and outside of the pool. And the third one… handsome, he’s very handsome.

Have you been to Paris before? What are you most excited about getting to the city?

Cassiel:  Yeah, I love Paris. Paris is one of my favourite cities in the world. My Mum grew up in Paris and she’s French, so I guess having that connection is nice.

Domonic: I’ve been a few times and it’s gonna be a lot different to see it with all the Olympic banners and the decorations, so I’m really interested to see how the city has completely transformed. With my experience in Rio, just when you go there you’re like, ‘Oh my God, this is incredible.’ And how quickly they do it all, so I’m excited to see the rings on the Eiffel Tower.