Wu-ing the crowds at thirteen
At less than a metre and a half tall, Melissa Wu does not cast the most imposing of shadows at the Games but
for what she lacks in stature, she makes up in talent.
Last night she clutched a Commonwealth Games silver medal to her chest- the fruits of her labour as she and
partner Alex Croak finished second in the women’s synchronised 10 metre platform.
Wu is the youngest competitor in the Games and comes from a whirlwind rise to elite level diving.
In 2004, Wu severely fractured her left wrist in a trampoline accident that nearly ended her diving career.
Doctors predicted that a recovery could take anything up to two years, but Wu was back competing before 12
months was up.
At the Victorian Championships in 2005, Wu finished 11th in the 3 metre springboard but clearly showed
where her skills were when she sealed third spot in the 10 metre platform event.
After icing the recovery cake with the third placed finish in the open state championships, Wu left
Queensland for Melbourne to compete in the Australian Open Diving Championships.
Wu began her training on the ten-metre platform not long after her thirteenth birthday and had only four
months to prepare to take on the likes of Chantelle Newbery and Loudy Tourky.
Thirty- five kilograms might not make much of a splash, but when you beat Newbery and Tourky to top spot in
the nationals, the ripples are felt throughout the diving community.
Last night capped a wonderful 12 months for the Brisbane Christian Outreach College student as she beamed
on the pool deck.
Wu and Croak won silver behind Newbery and Tourky where their repertoire included a competition points-
high dive of 87.72.
Tonight, old foes will lock horns again. The pint-sized Wu takes on the might and experience of Newbery and
Tourky in the 10-metre platform final.
But whatever the result is, Wu has endeared herself to diving fans around the country through a mix of
precocious enthusiasm and maturity beyond her years.
There mightn’t be much of her, but one suspects we’ll see plenty of her in years to come.
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