Australian diving team adopt motto ‘I am stronger than the wind’ at Commonwealth Games

GEORGIA Sheehan has revealed the mantra that will power the Australian dive team this week as they bid to overcome the elements at the Gold Coast venue dubbed the ‘Tower of Terror’.

GEORGIA Sheehan has revealed the mantra that will power the Australian dive team this week as they bid to overcome the elements at the Gold Coast venue dubbed the ‘Tower of Terror’.

“I am stronger than the wind” is the Aussie team creed that powered Sheehan and partner Esther Qin’s miraculous come-from-behind gold, in the 3m springboard, as the pair held their nerve in the tough conditions as others fell by the wayside.

While the wind has dropped considerably in the past week, gusts still disrupted the Commonwealth Games athletes in the opening session of competition on Wednesday morning.

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But Sheehan said the Australians were determined to stand up and deliver regardless of the conditions.

“When we first started diving in this pool, we did struggle,” Sheehan said.

“There is this saying in our team, you stand up there and say to yourself: ‘I am stronger than the wind’.”

Esther Qin and Georgia Sheehan compete in the women's 3m synchronised final.

Georgia Sheehan and Esther Qin after winning the gold medal.

Sheehan and Qin were regarded as the country’s second team leading into the competition but held their nerve brilliantly to move into the lead in the final round despite the carnage around them.

The pair only hit the lead with their final dive after fellow Australians Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith registered a “no dive” with their final effort after Keeney lost her bearings during a twisting move and landed on her back.

Keeney and Smith seemed to have lost their chance for gold earlier after an error in the hurdle from Smith led to a poorly synchronised effort.

But a horror dive from the leading Canadians suddenly brought all other teams back into the mix and Qin and Sheehan took full advantage, nailing their final dive.

The inward two-and-a-half somersault effort in the pike position was the most difficult on their list but the pair saved the best for last, scoring 71.10 to seal gold by just 7.2 points from England’s Alicia Blagg and Katherine Torrance.

“We have dived better than that in competition before,” Sheehan said.

Maddison Keeney and Anabelle Smith get a dive wrong in the women's 3m synchronised diving.

“They were tough conditions today, I just think we were able to handle that pressure and it worked well for us.”

Qin said all teams had struggled to handle the elements as the wind whipped through the open-air centre adjacent to the Southport Broadwater.

“It is really hard conditions, big wind and the sun, no one is really quite diving their best,” Qin said.

“We just gave each other confidence and just said, ‘we’ve got this’, encouraged each other to do better.”

Keeney was refused to dwell on the event, with the individual 1m and 3m still ahead.

“Stuff happens and today wasn’t our day,” she said.

“I’ve still got another event to go, still got more competitions coming, this is just one competition we’ve done together.”

Smith said she was proud of Keeney’s efforts.

“It is disappointing because we’ve been training well with the little preparation we’ve had but at the end of the day this isn’t our major goal in the next four years, Tokyo (2020 Olympics) is,” she said.

“In a couple of weeks’ time we probably won’t remember this, strong divers that we are.”

Originally published as Australian diving team adopt motto ‘I am stronger than the wind’ at Commonwealth Games