Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix isn’t your average 19-year-old.
The Team GB diver is going into her second Olympic Games having worked tirelessly to become one of the country’s most promising athletes.
But she’s had to overcome unique challenges to get there – from making a name for herself beyond being the daughter of First Dates star Fred Sirieix to overcoming a fear of diving and becoming one of her country’s brightest talents.
Here’s what you need to know about Spendolini-Sirieix ahead of her appearance in synchronised 10m platform diving this morning.
Pic: Jacob King/PA
Family life and early career
The diving sensation from London is the daughter of famous foodie Frenchman Sirieix and Italian mother Alex Spendolini, and grew up alongside younger brother Matteo.
She says it was her mother who got her into diving from a young age.
“I didn’t want to start diving… my mum forced me to start diving,” she said with a laugh in a video on Team GB’s YouTube channel.
“My family means so much to me because they really dropped everything for my sport,” she added.
It was clear early on she had a knack for diving – so much so that she was talent-scouted at just eight years old.
She burst onto the international stage at age 13 when she started on the senior dive circuit, and just two years later won her first solo gold at the 2020 FINA Diving Grand Prix.
“I was a little scrawny kid, no meat on me, and I was throwing myself off 10m like the adults,” she told Team GB.
“Nothing is expected of you when you’re the underdog, it was like a superpower.”
A challenging Olympic debut – and getting over a fear of diving
By the time she made her Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games, things had changed slightly for the then-16-year-old Spendolini-Sirieix.
She was bigger and stronger, but she was suffering from what she later identified as the “twisties” – a mental block which leaves athletes disoriented in the air.
Gymnast Simone Biles recently raised awareness of the psychological phenomenon, which kept her out of much of the last Olympics in Toyko.
Spendolini-Sirieix dives during Olympic debut in Tokyo. Pic: AP
It’s associated with stress – something Spendolini-Sirieix was experiencing a lot of at the time.
“I was just struggling a lot in every section of life: in school and training, in finding contentment in everything that I was doing,” she told Olympics.com in November 2022.
“And I just couldn’t dive. I couldn’t throw myself. I couldn’t do anything simple, anything hard.”
She subsequently went into her first Olympics feeling the pressure of “disappointing everyone” and knowing she wasn’t at her best.
Remarkably, she still managed to get through the rounds and reached the final in the women’s 10m platform, ultimately finishing seventh – Britain’s best individual result by a female diver in Tokyo.
But her mental health struggles persisted – so much so that she nearly gave up diving entirely a few months later.
“When you get overwhelmed with things you can’t control, it affects your diving. If you’re not mentally ‘on it’ on that 10m [platform], the risks are quite severe,” she told World Aquatics.
She developed a “mental block” when it came to diving and said it became a fear.
“I was going to quit, so I had to tell someone that I wasn’t okay,” she added.
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After a challenging first half of 2022, Spendolini-Sirieix began confiding in her family, friends and coach.
“I used to want to do everything by myself and didn’t want to put my burdens on other people,” the diver told Olympics.com. “But they are there for a reason and they can’t help you unless you go to them.”
She says it was that communication which allowed her to pick herself back up both mentally and physically.
The year ended up becoming a breakthrough year for her, seeing her win double European gold, two Commonwealth titles, and a bronze medal at the World Championships.
A year later, she topped that by winning silver at the 2023 World Championships.
She now has 24 senior national and international medals in total and sounds confident about Paris.
Spendolini-Sirieix winning gold at the 2024 Aquatics Diving Championships. Pic: PA/Martin Rickett
“My overall goal is to get a medal at an Olympic Games and Paris is very close to my heart because it’s in France,” she told Olympics.com.
“I’ve got family, I’m half French and I think it’s going to be as close to a home games as possible. But as of right now, I’m taking the process one day at a time.”
But the teenager dives deep – even outside of the water.
“Success to me doesn’t equate to medals,” she told PA news agency.
“I want to go there focused and determined and joyful. I want to come back feeling like I made the most of it, I gave it my everything.
“A competition doesn’t define who I am, but I really want to make memories. Without those memories, those medals are worthless.”
Spendolini-Sirieix diving in competition in earlier this year. Pic: Martin Rickett/PA Wire
‘I was simply Fred Sirieix’s daughter’
The teenager previously admitted she found it “a little bit difficult” being known predominantly as Fred Sirieix’s daughter in the build-up to the 2020 Olympics.
“My name wasn’t in the newspaper,” she told Olmpics.com in 2022.
“I was simply Fred Sirieix’s daughter, which was quite hard because I was doing the diving, but my name wasn’t coming up.
“Then this year ever so slightly the newspapers started to say ‘Andrea’. And then my name would repeat a bit more, bit more.
“It’s very nice to finally have that recognition and to know that I am the diver. I’m Andrea. Dad does his job and he is amazing at it, but it is great to build my own identity off my own achievements.”
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The pair have a strong relationship, Sirieix being a vocal supporter of his daughter on social media.
He was also seen crying on the sidelines when his daughter won individual gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
His daughter says they are “proud” of each other’s achievements.
Fred Sirieix ‘too nervous’ to talk about daughter’s diving
The television maitre d’ will be commentating on air during coverage of the summer games – but says he will avoid doing so while his daughter dives.
Fred Sirieix. Pic: AP
“I’ll be at the pool, watching Andrea, not working, I don’t want to comment on my daughter diving. It’s too close to my heart,” he told Radio Times.
“I’ll be speaking and commentating post-event, when everything’s done. I want to enjoy it. Regardless of what happens, there will be tears.
“If somebody deserves a medal, it’s her little brother, who was dragged to the pool, sitting in the stands to watch his iPad, or play with other kids he didn’t know.
“He’s the real hero of the story, but mum and dad, they don’t deserve a medal. This is what parents do. You look after your kids, give them all the opportunities you can.”
He said he’ll be supporting Team GB due to his daughter’s affiliation with them and because he’s met many of the British athletes.
“But I’m also proud to go back to my home country and showcase France to the Brits,” he added.
When will Spendolini-Sirieix compete?
Diving partners Lois Toulson (left) and Spendolini-Sirieix. Pic: Jacob King/PA
She’ll first be in action today in the synchronised 10m platform diving alongside partner Lois Toulson, with the competition starting at 10am.
She’ll then compete in the individual 10m platform diving on 5 August.