Sam Fricker named in Olympics team

Diver Sam Fricker named in Tokyo Games team

Sam Fricker has been selected in Australia’s diving team for the Tokyo Olympics, and promptly heaped praised on Trinity for its “super” support in and out of the classroom.

The class of 2020 School diving captain, one of three male debutants in the seven-member Olympic team, thanked Trinity for its solid backing throughout his COVID-affected Year 12, when he was also training 27 hours a week.

“I really felt super supported. If it wasn’t for that I’m not sure I would have finished (the school year),” he said.

“Diving was so intense. I felt they (the School) always had my back and were always there to help me.”

He said he and his mum Toni had several meetings with Head Master Tim Bowden and the School was able to manage his timetable and school workload to fit in with the demands of elite training.

Mrs Fricker, who was on hand when Sam was presented with his Olympic uniform, said she was “eternally grateful” for the School’s support.

“They helped us in so many ways, and helped Sam to go the distance,” she said.

“I am so proud of Sam for getting through Year 12, almost as proud as I am of him today.

“Ever since the age of seven or eight, he always said he was going to the Olympics, and I never doubted it.

“He is a hard worker, and all that hard work has paid off.”

She praised the School’s attention to details, such as making sure every student received a birthday card from the Head Master.

“Sam was blown away by that; it made him feel really important.

“And his peer group always supported him, and were happy for him. They understood he had a limited social life because of his commitments.”

Sam, who when not training is “chipping away” at his own business selling environmentally friendly drinking straws, thanked diving coach and Field Studies Centre Campus Administrator Martin Lang and his wife Chris for supporting him ever since he arrived at Trinity from Newcastle to start Year 7 and began diving.

The 19-year-old said he felt he had nailed a position on the Olympic team when his final dive from the 10m platform at the SOPAC Olympic trials last Friday brought up nine-plus scores from the judges, allowing him to finish second behind Cassiel Rousseau.

He immediately gave his coach Thomas Rickards a hug on the pool deck and “cried a bit”.

He will now join 100m track star Rohan Browning at the Tokyo Games, saying: “It’s super cool to have two Trinitarians at the Olympics.

“I always had a dream to go the Olympics, ever since I can remember.”