CBC Sports Oral Histories: How a 13-year-old Canadian won a historic Commonwealth Games gold – CBC Sports

Bulmer Barrett: He was just very carefree. If he was nervous, you couldn’t tell. And whether that was just always his cool, calm, collected nature, which he carried through the rest of his career, I don’t know. Or if it was just oblivion because he was young and this is like that first multi-sport Games.

Christiane: This word ‘Games’ brings you to another level of emotions when you get there, of nervousness. When you get there, you have to adapt. You have to stay calm. You have to still do what you’re supposed to do when you dive and you have to concentrate. You have to take care of yourself. You take care of your head, your body, everything.

Alex: I was in first place, so I didn’t even think about that. I was just like, ‘Oh, I get to dive again. Great!’

Geller: I don’t know that he was in there competing for gold. He was just thrilled to be doing each and every dive, like it was just the sheer joy that he was sort of exhibiting within the competition and the fact that he was just so excited to be part of it. It was infectious.

Alex: It was nighttime, [and] the venue wasn’t completely outdoors. It had a rooftop, but like everything else was open, crowd was going crazy. There’s tonnes and tonnes of people there. And once it started, I didn’t look back.

Christiane: We said, ‘OK, let’s hope for the best.’ We should have some news at one time, like it’s going well, he made the semis, finals. Nothing. We had nothing.

Bulmer Barrett: Even though he was still a small teenage boy, he stood on the end of that tower like a big, strong, powerful, commanding man.

Alex: Everything lined up like straight from the first dive, which was a hard one and couple little mistakes here and there.

Geller: When he did his front three-and-a-half, I think he got a 10 on something very close to that, and he turned to the camera and he said, ‘That’s for you, Mom,’ or ‘I love you, Mom’ or something. That was just so endearing.

Alex: I think that was my first-ever perfect score. The camera is following you after every dive. And that was all new to me as well, but I didn’t really pay attention to it except for when I got that perfect 10.

Bulmer Barrett: Not only was he consistent, but he was spectacular on a few, if not all of his dives, just disappearing into the water, no splash. The entire [crowd] watching him, I think, was just erupting more and more with excitement and energy as the contest went on, because what he was doing, everybody was aware how young he was and how historical it was going to be if he won this event to be the youngest athlete ever to take a Commonwealth Games title.