Diving Spotlight: Anabelle Smith and Madison Keeney
Anabelle Smith and Madison Keeney will be competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Women’s 3m Synchronised Diving event. Together, they have previously won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics and gold at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Anabelle Smith and Madison Keeney will be competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Women’s 3m Synchronised Diving event. Together, they have previously won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics and gold at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
After missing out on competing together at the Tokyo Olympics, they’re excited to be back together to make a charge for another podium finish in 2024! We caught up with them after the completed a test Olympics event at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in June.
This will be the second time you’ve competed at the Olympics together, what does it mean to be back on this stage together again?
Anabelle: We’re very excited. Maddie and I haven’t competed at the Olympics in synchro since Rio in 2016, so it’s been a hot minute, but we can’t wait to get back out there [with] another opportunity to dive synchro together, and we’re really excited to get to Paris.
You’ve competed together on the international stage before, but what makes the Olympics so different?
Madison: I think it’s just the the whole aura of the Olympics, Australia really gets behind their own athletes, and it just really has a great sense of community and camaraderie, it’s something that everyone can kind of get together over and I think it’s just such great atmosphere.
How do you make your partnership a great team, both inside and out of the pool?
Anabelle: Maddie and I have been diving together for ten years now, so we’re pretty well in tune with each other. We know how each other operates and how we train, and how we can best come together to get the best out of ourselves. I think that’s the best part about having so much experience now is that when one of us is maybe having a bad day or is slightly injured or whatever, it might be the other one that boosts you up. We know each other back to front and that makes us really great and close as a team.
Madison: I think, we just know what makes each other tick. I know how to cheer her up, she knows how to cheer me up.
Anabelle: We like to keep it pretty, like, easygoing and, like, relaxed and lighthearted [and] that kind of helps set the mood and. We both also appreciate that we’re just trying to do our best job.
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Have you been to Paris before? What are you most looking forward to about getting there?
Anabelle: We actually we’re fortunate to go to the test event a couple months ago now. We tried it out the boards and we’ve seen the facility which is incredible. And it’s brand new. Just excited to get over there. It’s gonna look a bit different with all the Olympic signage and, you know, the atmosphere is going to be huge with a big crowd again.
Madison: We were really lucky to be able to go to the facility and I think it’s gonna be an amazing atmosphere.
Have you had a chance to learn any French yet?
Anabelle: Un petit peu (a little bit)
Madison: Nope. I’m English all the way, sorry guys! (laughs)