'One of my idols': diving community says Jennifer Abel made a splash in the sport
CBC
Young divers in Montreal say Jennifer Abel will continue to be an inspiration for them and in the sport, even after the Olympian retires from the sport.
Abel announced her retirement from competitive diving on Tuesday, just a few months after winning silver in synchronized springboard alongside Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
She won bronze in the same event in London in 2012, and holds ten world championship medals in the sport, the most by any Canadian diver.
"When I watch her dive, I'm really just in awe," said 16-year-old Sonya Palkhivala, who dives in Pointe-Claire.
Palkhivala said it was inspiring to know that Abel went to the Olympics when she was her age.
"We're really proud of her," said Palkhivala. "Even though she's not diving anymore she still leaves a huge legacy here in Pointe-Claire and in Canada."
"Seeing her perform so consistently at such a high level has just been incredible to watch," agreed Ella Hamby, who also dives in Pointe-Claire.
She said young divers like her watch athletes like Abel closely, not only for form but for inspiration. Hamby said that, like Abel, she too hopes to make it to the Olympics.
"It kind of fills you with a little bit of nervousness, thinking of where I am now and how I would get there," she said. "But I'd love to go."
Abel broke the news by sharing a letter she wrote to her younger self, titled To the young mixed-race girl who wanted to dive. In it, she remembers a time when few divers looked like her.
"It wasn't easy for me when I was younger because I couldn't see a model, I couldn't look at someone and see myself through that person… because they weren't physically looking the same [as me]," Abel told CBC.
"Maybe it's because, like you, they were told that Black girls belong in athletics or basketball, not in the pool," she wrote in the letter.
The 30-year-old diver from Laval said she was heartened by the "love and so much great messages" she's received since announcing her retirement.
"You never think that you're an inspiration," said Abel.
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