How would you describe yourself to a new generation growing up in the years since your own achievements?
My diving records speak for themselves. I am currently a human rights activist and a gay man, I just got married a year ago to my husband and I also mentor young athletes for USA diving - and there's the acting. I started as a dancer many years ago, before any of the diving stuff so then getting back on stage, I've been doing a play reading in New York, so there have been many different facets of my life.

Do you miss competition?
I was very competitive but I was more of a performer than a competitor. My first Olympics was in 1976 when I was 16 and I won my first silver medal at Montreal. Then I had to wait eight years [because of the Moscow boycott] until I could compete in another Olympic Games and then I won my two gold medals in 1984. Between 1984 and 1988 I enjoyed practising much more than I enjoyed the competition because every time I got on the boards everyone was expecting an Olympic performance - which was totally unrealistic. But, being a performer, I always wanted to give them that or as close as I could each time. I really learned to love the sport of diving between 1984 and 1988. The 1988 Games were very challenging because I hit my head on the springboard. Fortunately it was in the preliminaries and I was able to come back the next day in the finals and win a gold medal. That brought the pressures of competition into perspective. It taught me that anything can happen. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done.

What was your most memorable moment?
My first Olympics was 1976 and that was an incredible experience. I was being coached by Sammy Lee who had won two Olympic gold medals and then he coached Bobby Webster who also won two Olympic gold medals. In 1976 Klaus Dibiasi was going for a third gold so Sammy was coaching me to prevent Klaus breaking his record but I won only the silver so, in the competition, I felt I was a failure because I didn't achieve my coach's goals for me. But in the Olympic Village it was different. I hung out with the Soviet diving team because they were close to my age and I had a blast. I made the 1980 Olympic  team but we weren't able to go [to Moscow] so that was a big disappointmentn 19. In 1984, I was at the top of my form, then in 1988 I was 28 and hanging on by the skin of my teeth so that was challenging.

 

 


Greg Louganis (left) and Claus Di Biasi at the London Olympics - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia

 

What advice would you give to young people starting out in diving?
My best advice for the young athletes that I work with is that it’s important for them to understand and practise. We get good at what we practise so I really encourage them to mentally and psychologically put themselves in the events they're going to be competing in - like the world championships and Olympic Games - and treat their practices as if they were really there. If you practise putting yourself in those situations then the more prepared you are going to be and the more chance you have of being successful when you get to, say, an Olympic Games.

Any other advice?
Yes. Have fun because otherwise you're not going to do it and you'll find it heavy work. It was only towards the end of my diving career between 1984 and 1988 that I started exploring; prior to that, when I went to a competition, I would see the hotel or dorm room and the pool and that was it. I didn't really venture out because I was so narrowly focused.

Which are the best ways to promote diving?
One way is getting more young people exposed to the sport. I started doing dance and acrobatics when I was a year and half and when I was three I had a partner and she went to gymnastics so I followed her to gymnastics and then we had a pool built in our back yard with a diving board and my mom got me lessons. But I had a really solid, strong base with dance and acrobatics and gymnastics which was the skill set necessary to be successful in diving. I think the Chinese have really taken that as their model. They get these very young kids and then they go through the disciplines of posture, of form, so that it's really ingrained in their bodies. It's not so much diving intially but a lot of the skills necessary for diving.