Mitcham sets sights on 2012 Games

Olympic gold medallist and Balmain local Matt Mitcham had quit diving before he received a text from his coach that would ultimately change his life.

“I moved to Sydney four and a bit years ago,” Mithcam said. “I had retired from diving and had no real intention of returning until I got a text message from my current coach, Chava Sobrino saying ‘look if you ever want to start diving again I’ll have a position in my squad for you’ and the way the text was worded prompted me to reconsider my retirement, and so I moved down to Sydney to dive.”

Mitcham started diving when he was 11 and says that the greatest achievement in his life was winning the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, his second greatest achievement was winning the World Cup in 2010.

“All the points I’d accrued in 2010 from all the competitions ranked me as number one in the world and it’s the first time I’ve been number one,” he said. “I had this realisation that ‘wow I’m the best in the world at something’, I’d always wanted to be but I never thought I’d actually be. I never thought I was that special.”

Much has been made of Mitcham’s “coming out” to The Sydney Morning Herald in 2008 as part of the lead up to the games but Mitcham said it was a natural thing for him to do.

“It’s not like I’d ever really kept it a secret,” he said. “It was just me letting the rest of Australia know who they were supporting; I wanted the country to know who they were getting behind.

“I’m not an activist, I’m an athlete, and any gay rights or social benefits that come as a by-product of me just doing my job and being an openly gay, out-and-proud athlete, all the better.”

Mitcham said that he fully supported marriage equality.

“I think people who want to get married should be allowed to get married,” he said. “No matter who they are.”

Mitcham said that preparations for London 2012 were going well and that his World Cup win last year was a motivating achievement.

“I won the world cup last year and that’s exactly in the middle of the Olympic cycle so it’s a good indicator of the progress I’m making.”

Mitcham currently trains full time at Olympic Park and said that after a long training session, one of 11 a week, he likes to unwind at Cafe Tropicana on Victoria Street Darlinghurst.