Even rupturing her achilles on safari in Tanzania just 18 months ago couldn’t keep Olympic medallist Anabelle Smith out of the pool in Paris.

The self-described “sport obsessed, Olympics crazy kid” and her teammate Maddison Keeney were the first divers to qualify for the Australian Olympic Team for Paris 2024.

Anabelle’s perseverance took her through rehab, weight training wearing a boot and strengthening her mind through sports psych coaching to reach peak form.

The Olympic Bronze Medallist, triple Olympian, and Commonwealth Games Champion gives insight into what it’s like standing on that three-metre diving board, waiting for her dive.

“There’s a little buzzer that goes, I can hear my heart beating through my ears, my body’s shaking. I’ve got 10 seconds to gather my thoughts, get it all under control, That’s when I trust my body has done all the training to know what to do.

“You know as soon as you hit the water if you’ve done a good dive. So to come up and hear everyone screaming and see your coach smiling, that’s pretty special.”

You don’t want to miss a single episode of En Route to Paris, with host and former Olympic water polo player Rowie Webster talking to our greatest Olympians.

Make sure you’ve followed En Route to Paris in your favourite podcast app, to hear revealing conversations with stars like boxer Harry Garside, cyclist and Chef de Mission Anna Meares, runner Jye Edwards, Hockeyroos superstar Amy Lawton and more.