With confidence in his training levels already in his pre-season preparations, Olympic diver Yona Knight-Wisdom is setting high targets for the 2022 campaign, which include nothing less than a Commonwealth Games medal.
Coming off his second consecutive Olympic Games appearance in Tokyo last summer, Knight-Wisdom has been back at training since September as he prepares for a loaded schedule next year that includes the World Aquatics Championships in May and the Commonwealth Games in August.
Knight-Wisdom finished 15th in the Olympic 3m springboard semi-finals, not enough for him to progress to the final of the event. He is setting the bar high for himself in 2022, targeting a Commonwealth medal in both the 1m and 3m springboard events and final appearances in both events for the world championships. He says those are objectives that he feels he has the ability and experience at this level to chase and attain.
“Both targets are challenging because there are a lot of good divers in the Commonwealth. But I really think that I am at a level of ability now and also a level of experience that I can approach them with confidence and deliver that target. That’s what I’m here for, and I am really confident that I can get that,” Knight-Wisdom told The Gleaner.
His confidence does not only stem from his self-belief. Knight Wisdom says that he has been encouraged by how he has responded in training since returning in September and his performance at the Scottish National and Open Diving Championships held earlier this month. He placed second and third in the 1m and 3m springboard events, respectively, performing at a level that he says is rare at this stage.
“I wouldn’t say that I dropped a dive in any of my events. That is unusual at this time of the season. I hadn’t been doing my competition dives for long before the event took place. It’s really exciting because now I have a good, solid period of time to work on all these dives,” Knight-Wisdom said. “Who knows where it could be when it comes to the main competition season in summer next year.”
He has attributed the consistency during training so far to improvements both mentally and physically, improvements that he hopes will continue to bear fruit as he prepares to begin his medal chase.
“As soon as I came back, even though I took a bit of time off to rest and recover, I was on it straight away. I tried to make a few improvements away from training as well. I have been getting some advice from a diet perspective. I have been thinking more from a psychological perspective, and the start to this year so far has been incredible,” Knight-Wisdom said. “I feel like I’m at a higher level than I usually am at this time of year. To do that off the back of an Olympics is exciting. So, hopefully, I just continue building on that.”