Holly Springs Olympic diver shakes nerves, preps for Wednesday competition
Posted July 27, 2021 6:51 p.m. EDT
Holly Springs, N.C. — 21-year-old Andrew Capobianco, from Holly Springs, is set to make a splash at the Olympics on Wednesday morning.
He's competing in the 3-meter synchronized and individual diving events.
But during the most important moment of his life — the Olympic diving trials — he had a bad cold.
His sluggishness put him about 60 points behind the leader.
"You have to kind of get yourself to a mental place where nothing else really matters besides what you're about to do," Capobianco told WRAL.
His dad had told him to sleep as much as possible — just in time for his synchronized dive with Michael Hixon. The duo qualified.
Then, two days later, he placed second in the individual diving.
"I'm feeling really confident about the individual competition," he said. "I haven't had the ability to compete individual competition too much on the world stage."
"I kind of have moments where it hits me, and I'm like holy cow. A few minutes later, I'm kind of back in my zone and just kind of having fun," he continued.
The pandemic, delayed the games for a year, but Capobianco used that to his advantage.
He said that time taught him to "have balance in your life."
"I was putting all of my eggs in one basket and focusing too much on diving," he said.
He said he plans to compete in the 2024 Olympics, but beyond that, he sees himself as a diving coach.
"I just really want to help try to inspire the next generation," Capobianco said. "Because diving is not a huge sport, and we have a lot to give. It's such an exciting sport to watch, and every four years at the Olympics, it is one of the most watched sports."
Andrew Capobianco is one of three boys. His twin brother Matthew, a neuropharmacology student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is one of his biggest cheerleaders.
"It was really special to share the moment with him when i qualified on Olympic trials, and there's a picture of him going crazy on one of my dives," his brothers said.
