Bondi Blues | Bondi Rescue

Part 18

The time had absolutely flown by, and it was finally my first day of competition at the FINA World Series in Beijing. I had joked with the boys to not burn down the house while I was gone, but I was a bit worried leaving them there, alone, for 2 weeks.

Qualifiers were today, and Alyssa was coming with me to cheer me on. The media presence at the arena was insane, and I saw my Speedo team with Jaime inside. I quickly got ready for my session, and I returned poolside to take my place in the procession of divers.

*

Over the next three days, I had managed to place first in my qualifier and first in my semifinal. The pressure was mounting for me to take the gold in the Women's 10m Platform, but I felt no pressure at all. Jaime and the rest of my support team, including the rest of the Australian Diving squad and my Speedo cohort, made sure that I stayed loose.

Now came the finals, where it all mattered. The favorite to win was a Chinese diver, so she obviously had the hometown crowd advantage. I was diving second, as I had qualified with the second best score.

I prepared for my first dive, and when I hit the water, I knew that it was a bit shaky. As I spent a little bit longer under water, I realized that not having my family here was affecting me more than I thought. I was used to looking at my mum after every dive...

I quickly collected myself and surfaced to polite applause from the crowd. My score wasn't terrible, but I had to nail every other dive I did to have a shot at the gold. I got out of the pool and got in the hot tub, glancing around to see other divers' families proudly holding posters and their country's flag.

I saw a few Australian flags, and my eyes wandered to see Matt Mitcham's family, as well as Alyssa's family, sporting a huge Australian flag. I looked above them and saw a group of three or four guys holding small, wavable Australian flags, and I had to do a double take.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

There, in the arena in Beijing, China, sat Troy, Deano, Whippet and Reidy. They had completely lied to me, saying that they were planning a holiday to Indonesia while I'd be here competing. All of the plans that they were making, right under my nose in the Tower, were for this trip...

I couldn't help but smile and realize that they'd been here the whole time. I felt suddenly much calmer and at peace, knowing that even though my biological family wasn't here, the boys who I was fortunate enough to call family were.

After speaking with Jaime, I refocused and absolutely smashed my next three dives. I'd never performed them that well before, in competitions or in training. I was hyped up, and so was Jaime. I glanced out into the stands and saw Troy and Deano, cheering me on loudly as Whippet and Reidy waved flags around with both hands.

The Chinese diver, who was in gold medal position and was the favorite, performed her last dive - it was solid, but I knew deep down that I could beat her. I had to have the dive of my life.

I climbed up the stairs and completely got in to my zone. I couldn't hear the cheering from the stands, the cameras snapping, or the announcers saying my name. I took a deep breath and gathered myself before I prepared to perform my armstand dive.

This one is for you, mum.

I pushed off of the platform from the armstand position as far as I possibly could. I realized that I'd gotten further up than I ever had before, and I quickly performed the twists and somersaults in my dive, and as my hands punched through the water, it took all of my self control not to start screaming in joy.

I had absolutely nailed it.

I took a second to prepare myself to surface, and when I did, my ears pounded. I was met with screams and cheers from not only Australian fans, but others as well. I watched a majority of the fans stand up and cheer loudly, and as is customary in China, I got out of the pool and bowed, respectfully thanking the crowd.

I walked over to Jaime and waited for my scores to come in. That was the longest minute or so of my life.

The board began to change to show my latest score, and I heard the announcer say my name, followed by the dive I had performed. He paused, and then said, "9.8!"

I immediately hugged Jaime tightly, a smile ever so present on my face. I had moved into the gold medal position, and though my position wasn't definite, I would be on the podium.

After a grueling and nerve-wracking 20 minutes to watch the rest of the divers perform their last dive, as the last score came in, Jaime engulfed me in a huge hug.

I was World Champion.

Tears fell freely down my face as I hugged some of my competitors, who congratulated me.

The global diving community had heard what had happened with my mum, and they had all rallied around me and supported me. Many of the divers had donated to a brain cancer research center in Sydney in my mum's memory, and Diving Australia had just formed a partnership with the diving teams from Germany, Canada, and Great Britain to do a charity event to raise awareness and fundraise for brain cancer.

I was overwhelmed with emotion, and I took the podium as the medals were awarded. Ash gold medal was placed around my neck and Advance Australia Fair began to play, I looked up toward the sky, singing the words to my great country's anthem as the tears streamed down my face.

I could feel my mum with me at that moment, and I felt so whole and happy.

After the ceremony, I ignored all the media for a moment and made a bee line to the stands. At the first row were the boys, waiting to greet me. I jumped up over the barricades and into the stands, immediately wrapping my arms around Troy.

We hadn't gone public yet, but some people had their suspicions. I completely disregarded everyone around me and hugged him tightly as he snuck a kiss on my cheek. "Congratulations, babe." He said, beaming with pride. "She's here, she's with me, Gonz. I can feel it." I was smiling widely as it was Deano's turn to embrace me.

"She's so beyond proud of you, Charlie. Not just for that performance, but for who you are. Congratulations Cha, nobody deserves it more." I squeezed Deano and said quietly, "I wouldn't be here without you, Deano. Thank you." He glanced at me in confusion and worry, and I looked at him knowingly. He understood that it was a conversation for another time, and he handed me off to Reidy.

"That's my roommate!" Reidy bragged, and we all laughed as he embraced me. "I'm so proud of you, Charlie. You've overcome so much and it's been amazing to watch you grow." I replied, "Thanks, Reidy. You never fail to make me smile."

Whippet smiled widely at me as I said, "You!" He replied, "You didn't think we'd miss this, did you? Holiday in Indonesia? You're so easy!" We all laughed as Whipped brought me in to a hug and jokingly said, "Definitely worth all of my holiday days for the year."

Without even thinking, I motioned for the boys to come down the stairs and onto the pool deck with me. They followed warily, and after saying that they were with me, I brought them over to stay with Jaime as I did some interviews and media plugs.

After finishing up with the media and putting together a meeting time with my Speedo team, Jaime turned to me, smiled, and said, "Go on, I think you have a few lads who want to go explore Beijing." I looked at him and was about to question whether I had to go back to the athletes' village, but he cut me off.

"Charlie, you just won gold. Go have fun with them. I already talked to Jake, and he said you're fine. Just be back by 11 tonight."

I thanked him, and I grabbed my things from the locker room and made my way out of the arena, laughing with the four boys who were not only my best mates, but family to me.