Briony Cole

Off to Beijing!

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:37:12 -0800

Today I'm off to Beijing along with the rest of the Australian Diving team. I can't wait to get over to Beijing, move into the Olympic village, get my Australian Uniform and get into the Olympic atmosphere.

As this is my first Olympics, as you can imagine I'm super excited. There have been so many messages from people wishing me all the best, which has been awesome. ...

LATEST Tension builds with just days to go

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:03:49 -0800

With one week until we depart for Beijing and only 10 days until the start of the 2008 Olympics, things are getting very busy and very exciting. We are halfway through our Olympic training camp, which means lots of meetings and updates, which is exciting and a tad overwhelming.

This week is our last week of training in Australia before we head off to Beijing. ...

25 days to go!

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:28:10 -0800

With only a few weeks until we leave for Beijing, training has knocked up a notch. Not only is the training environment more intense and focused, there is lots of excitement amongst my team mates, especially those of us who will be competing in their first Olympics.

Last week at training we had a mock competition, with judges and even a small crowd. ...

Fine tuning in Germany

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:17:53 -0800

Last week the Australian Olympic Diving Team headed off to Rostock, Germany for the German leg of the FINA Grand Prix. It's a long way to Rostock - three flights and a 2 hour bus ride - all up 35 hours of travelling.

We had a few days of training before competition started.

My first event was the Women's 10m Synchronised with Melissa Wu. The competition was going well, until I over rotated on my inward 3.5 somersault, so in the end we finished 4th. ...

Beijing, here I come

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:18:41 -0800

On May 27 my name was announced to be a member of the Australian Olympic Diving Team.

The team includes: Alex Croak, Mathew Helm, Matthew Mitcham, Chantelle Newbery, Robert Newberry, Scott Robertson, Sharleen Stratton, Melissa Wu and myself. ...

Diving for the Games

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:14:42 -0800

At the end of April I travelled to North America to compete in the Canadian and American legs of the FINA Diving Grand Prix.

These competitions were crucial to our Australian Olympic selection, to prove to the Australian diving selectors that we can perform at a high level and be competitive internationally. ...

One Olympic selection trial down...2 to go

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:13:57 -0800

Starting Friday and finishing on Sunday was the Diving Olympic Trials, which were held down in Hobart. It was a very stressful, cut throat and drama filled weekend.

Friday morning Sharleen Stratton and I competed in the Women's 3m Synchronised event. We were the only female pair (we like to think we scared all the other girls away), however we still needed to score over 285 points which we did comfortably, as we scored 314.40 points. ...

Olympic diving trials just days away...

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:43:54 -0800

On Monday I'm off to Hobart to compete in the Diving Olympic Trials. The trials start on Friday and go until Sunday, the competition is invite only with the best divers from Australia competing. I'm really looking forward to the trials, but I'm also nervous!

Training has been going well, with lots of fine tuning and working hard on making the synchronisation perfect. ...

A medal performance at the Water Cube

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 09:51:03 -0800

On the 15^th of February I was off to China to dive at the World Cup in Beijing. I was really looking forward to competing in the Water Cube, which is the Beijing Olympic pool. The Australian team included: Mathew Helm, Matthew Mitcham, Chantelle Newbery, Robert Newbery, Scott Robertson, Sharleen Stratton, Loudy Wiggins, Melissa Wu and myself. I was competing in two events, 10m synchronised with Melissa and 3m synchronised with Sharleen.

The Water Cube is an amazing pool. ...

The World Cup in China Beckons

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:22:40 -0800

Today (14/2)just after morning training had finished the drug testers from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority arrived. I was randomly selected along with a few other divers, I had to provide a urine sample and a blood sample, and all in all it took me just over 2 hours. It is quite embarrassing to provide the sample, but if you want to be an elite athlete you have to expect drug tests here and there. ...