Andrew Capobianco chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about his silver medal win for Team USA at the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. He offered advice for young and aspiring divers, opened up about his motivations, and furnished his definition of success.
A native of Wantagh, New York, Capobianco and his partner, Michael Hixon, came in second place in the men’s three-meter springboard, where they earned 444.36 points for Team USA. “That was definitely a lifelong dream come true,” he said. “It was great to do it for everybody back home who was cheering me on. I have three homes: one in Holly Springs, North Carolina, one in Bloomington, Indiana, and one back home on Long Island, New York.”
“It was really special to be able to make everybody back home proud and that all of my hard work paid off,” he added. “I grew up in Wantagh, New York, but I moved to North Carolina when I was 13.”
On his daily motivations, he said, “Honestly, my family inspires me and how much they have put into my dream. They have done so much for me throughout my whole diving career. They have made so many sacrifices for me and it has been really nice to be able to celebrate with them.”
“I am drawn to the people that I am surrounded by in the sport,” he admitted. “Diving is a pretty small community, there are not that many divers in the United States so I pretty much know all of the divers that compete around the country. It’s a great community to be a part of, and everyone is so kind, and wants the best for you.”
Growing up, he shared that Olympian David Boudia was a huge inspiration to him. “Now, obviously we are competitors but close friends,” he said. “David is an inspiration for the man that he is and as a diver, as well as outside the pool as a husband and as a father.”
For Capobianco, it is “amazing” to be an Indiana Hoosier, who competes for the Indiana University Bloomington. “It has a tradition of excellence in its swimming and diving program, and it is great to be able to carry that on,” he said.
“I knew I wanted to come to Indiana for the tradition that they’ve had,” he added. “It is so amazing to be in the pool with so many legends in the sports of swimming and diving and work hard with them every day to try and achieve our goals. There is definitely some magic happening on that pool deck.”
For young and aspiring divers, he encouraged them “to have fun” with the sport. “Don’t forget why you joined the sport in the first place,” he said. “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and try to have fun.”
“Also, it is important to make big goals, otherwise you might not get where you want to go,” he added. “Don’t sell yourself short and always dream big. Keep having fun.”
He acknowledged that the 2021 Olympic Trials were a defining moment for Capobianco since he was struggling with a back injury. “By the last day, I was worn down and not feeling like I could push through it. My coach sat me down and told me that he knew that I had it in me and he inspired me to dig deep to get through it. I was in sixth place going into that final and I was able to climb back into second place and make my second event for the Olympic team. That was a really special moment and it taught me a lot about myself and how much tenacity I can have.”
At the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Capobianco took home the bronze medal in the mixed team diving event with teammate Katrina Young. “That was pretty cool since it’s not an event that we do pretty often. It’s a fun event, and Katrina and I had a fun time doing it. That was one of my first medals internationally so to win that medal was really cool,” he said.
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Capobianco said, “Gratitude for those that got me here, really.”
For his fans and supporters, he said, “Thank you so much for the support. We weren’t able to have spectators in Tokyo but I could feel the love from everyone all the way back in the U.S. especially from Long Island and North Carolina. It has been overwhelming to receive all of that support on social media. I couldn’t have done it without them.
Capobianco defined the word success as “getting to a place where you are happy with what you’ve done, it doesn’t need to be winning or medaling. It’s being proud of what you’ve done and knowing that you’ve done your best to get there.”
To learn more about Olympic silver medalist Andrew Capobianco, follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
