Mat Lock:
Melissa Wu, welcome to The Unleashing Potential Podcast. It’s a pleasure to have you here.
Melissa Wu:
Thanks.
Mat Lock:
I’m sorry, for those who are not familiar with who you are, if you could just tell us a bit about yourself. And then I’ve got a few statistics in the background that I’ve been gathering about you online. So let’s see which bits you skim over and I’ll come back to it. But maybe just tell us a little bit about yourself?
Melissa Wu:
Okay. Sure. Well my name’s Melissa Wu. I’m a three time Olympian in diving. I’ve been diving for, it’s probably about 18 years. So a long time. Too long to count. From a very young age. I’ve been diving since I was about 10. And, I competed in my first international competition when I was 13 years old. So that was Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.
Melissa Wu:
And then I went to my first Olympics when I was 16 and that was the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. So that started my career and since then I’ve pretty much been diving internationally. Since then I’ve only had maybe a year or two off due to injury, but still going strong. And currently training for Tokyo 2020 in 2021. So a little bit delayed with that. But it’s all on track. So looking forward to giving that my all.
Mat Lock:
Absolutely. Well, firstly, congratulations for whenever Tokyo is going to happen. Congratulations for your whole career so far. It’s actually phenomenal, isn’t it. And actually before we dive into that, I forgot. I should check myself. Happy birthday for last Sunday.
Melissa Wu:
Thank you. I stopped counting about 10 years ago.
Mat Lock:
Come on then. Well if my homework’s certainly correct then you’ve just turned 28 is that right?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah. 28
Mat Lock:
Well, that would explain the 18 years already. You’ve got years of, let’s say professional diving career behind you. But absolutely phenomenal. And am I right in believing that you still the youngest Australian ever to win an Olympic medal at diving? Is that still the case?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah, I believe so. Pretty sure.
Mat Lock:
And I’ve only got one more. At age 16 you had medaled in every major international competition.
Melissa Wu:
Yeah, I had.
Mat Lock:
That was quite the journey.
Melissa Wu:
Yeah, it is. It seems so long ago now, all that. From starting at that young age. People always ask me about it, but I have to think really hard about it, back to then. Because it’s a long time and a lot happens. But it’s still going. Still hanging in there.
Mat Lock:
Apparently so. Absolutely. But very much so in fact. And so how did you get into diving at 10? What piques the interest at the age of 10 versus all the other sports that you had available? And your whole family, I think your brothers and sisters, also big sporting background?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah. I came from a pretty sporty family in that we did a lot of sports when we were younger. We got involved in all the school sports. And my older sister in particular was really good, pretty much at everything. I wasn’t so much good with everything, but she led the way and got us all into sport. And she was particularly really good at swimming.
Melissa Wu:
So she was quite competitive when she was younger. So she used to race a lot at Sydney Olympic Park and I hated swimming when I was younger. I preferred flipping around the house. I really liked gymnastics, but because I come from a family of five, it was difficult to put the hours in. Well they always want the kids to do ridiculous amount of hours when they’re younger, which was just something that we couldn’t really commit to.
Melissa Wu:
So I still did gym but wasn’t super serious about it. But I loved doing all that stuff around the house and everything. So I used to watch my sister race at Olympic Park, that’s where I first saw diving. And from the moment I saw it, I knew it was going to be super fun. As soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it and just begged my parents to let me start. And eventually just started from there in the club.
Mat Lock:
Awesome. Well, thankfully you managed to con them into letting you do it.
Melissa Wu:
I did. It took a bit of persuasion, but we got there.
Mat Lock:
I guess no one wants you to see the little girl get hurt, did they say?
Melissa Wu:
Well they were actually worried that we didn’t know anything about diving. So they thought I wouldn’t stay fit just going and jumping off a board. We had no idea about all the behind the scenes training. And how strong you have to be to do it.
Mat Lock:
I was reading a little bit about your training regime. Maybe we could talk about that for a little bit now as well. Yes, it’s not just diving off the platform is it. Certainly when I was chatting with Meredith, my wife earlier, who you’re in contact with, and I said, I wonder which came first? The gymnastics or the diving element, the water element. Because it’s a blend of the two, right?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah, it’s more gymnastics definitely. Obviously most of our training is in the pool doing diving. But then the other half or the sessions that aren’t gym sessions are actually what we call dryland. So it’s basically very similar to gymnastics style training. So it’s on trampolines, crash mats, doing somersaults, going into those big foam pits and all the fun stuff. So it’s very similar to those acrobatic sports. And usually when we try and bring new kids into Institute programmes, we still learn from all those sports, trampolining, gymnastics, tumbling, all those kinds of things.
Mat Lock:
Awesome. I haven’t had a go in one of the big foam pits yet. Actually it looked like a lot of fun.
Melissa Wu:
You have to do it. Definitely
Mat Lock:
I’m just not sure if there is one firstly. I imagine you can just give yourself to it knowing you’re going to get hurt.
Melissa Wu:
As long as you don’t go head first. So you can’t take it too literally. You can’t dive into it. That’s dangerous.
Mat Lock:
Good point, well made. Thank you for that. So when you went to Beijing, I think we were chatting just before we went on camera, you were 16 correct?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah. 16 in Beijing.
Mat Lock:
So you were juggling school, I think homeschooling I’d imagine, and a massive training regimen.
Melissa Wu:
So training, it was pretty full on from a young age. So from about the age of 12 I got into a junior AIS programme in Brisbane. And that’s where the AIS was based in diving before, not out of Canberra. So I literally went into a squad and got to train with the previous Olympians who had literally just come back from Athens and won a bunch of medals.
Melissa Wu:
So that was a really amazing opportunity for me. And from that moment, my training really ramped up and it’s been the same since then, which is basically 10 sessions a week. So it’s twice a day, most days, morning, afternoon. So from a young age I’ve been pretty used to that hectic training schedule and when I was at school that meant doing it before and after school. So each day was pretty long for me.
Melissa Wu:
So it was hard to juggle both, but I think I actually struggled more when I started travelling. Because at least when I was training it would be before and after school and I’d still have that time at school. And still time for homework and assignments on the weekend. But when I travelled pretty much the whole week or two weeks or however long it was, it was dedicated to diving. And you’re at the pool most of the day with minimal time to get studying. So for me that was a bit more of a challenge.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, I guess. And also obviously there’s the nutrition side, the recovery side. And they’re formative years, you’ve got to have time to be a kid as well in those years, I guess. Pretty awesome, incredible level of discipline and mental fortitude and an amazing family around you, I guess, and coaches and a whole team of people supporting you.
Melissa Wu:
For sure. I’ve had a lot of family support from a really young age. We’re a really tight knit family and as I said, a family of five kids. So we’ve also always had that support and come from a sporty family. So that’s been really helpful all the way through. And good coaches as well. Had a really good coach when I was younger, that took me through as just a junior diver into an international career. And that was in Brisbane.
Melissa Wu:
And then when I moved to Sydney, I’ve been diving with my coach now, it’s probably been about 10 years. So he’s awesome. He’s like a dad and then also a mentor and everything. And he’s not just a coach, but he’s been a really big support for me, in and out of diving.
Mat Lock:
Isn’t it amazing how we can find those people in our lives and really a part of our life.
Melissa Wu:
It’s awesome.
Mat Lock:
That is amazing. Absolutely. So in 2007 in Melbourne, you got yourself a silver in the World Championships, correct?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah.
Mat Lock:
And that was synchronised or solo?
Melissa Wu:
That was synchro. So I did a lot of synchro in my first years on the international diving scene. And then probably less. Still been doing it, but being focusing a bit more on individual in the backend of my career.
Mat Lock:
Sure. So that was your first medal, and then it was the Olympics the following year, correct? I think we froze there. Sorry.
Melissa Wu:
Sorry. All good. So basically I did that World Champs in 2007 which was the second year on the international diving circuit. And we also had a lot of other international comps that year. So a lot changed from when I was at my first Commonwealth Games to my first Olympics. Because my first Commonwealth Games, I was brand new to it, no pressure, very naive. But even though I was young going into my first Olympics, because I’d had those two years of international competition under my belt already, I actually went in with a fair bit of pressure into my first Olympics. Because we were real medal champs then.
Mat Lock:
Sure. Like being that young wasn’t enough already.
Melissa Wu:
I think it’s actually easier. Looking back, I think it’s easier when you’re younger.
Mat Lock:
Okay. That somehow makes sense. So talk us through it. 16 years old, part of the Olympic team representing Australia. Big picture, how was the overall experience?
Melissa Wu:
There’s a whole lot that goes into it and everything. So overall it was a really good experience for me. I was able to come over with a silver medal, it was in Beijing, which was really special to me because of my Chinese background. And I had family that have watched me. So it was awesome. And it’s what you dream of and everything you’ve been working towards.
Melissa Wu:
And I just remember, I would obsess about it beforehand. I had stickers and all the merch. Not because I thought I was going to be there. But I just wanted it so bad and I remember just everything revolved around it. And it didn’t really disappoint. It was amazing. And you know how the Chinese are, they do everything top notch as well. So all the food, everything. They this massive games room, I used to go there almost every day. And there’s games where you shoot the basketballs into the hoops. I loved all that.
Melissa Wu:
And there was always something happening. It was really cool. And being so young, that was awesome. But it was also that little bit of pressure going in as well. So it was a relief when I did well, if anything. I was happy. But I think too, growing up in a high performance programme and having that pressure constantly to do well. For me, I was just relieved. More than anything that I’d gone and hit the expectation that was expected of me.
Melissa Wu:
But overall, amazing experience. And the first one’s always the most special as well. That’s the one, you won an Olympian and then you became an Olympian. Not that the others after that don’t mean, they’re still mean a lot. I think that the first one holds a really special place in your heart.
Mat Lock:
I can understand. Absolutely. Well, I guess every aspect of it, it’s the first time.
Melissa Wu:
Yes. Exactly.
Mat Lock:
Or massive impact. Probably like a sponge absorbing it all.
Melissa Wu:
Exactly. Just soak it all up.
Mat Lock:
The second time around you somehow have some idea of what to expect of this.
Melissa Wu:
Yeah, exactly.
Mat Lock:
But so going into your first Olympics at the tender age of 16, obviously there was a huge amount of coaching support around the physical aspects of it and so on. How much support did they give you on the mental aspects of it in terms of support and keeping you grounded and not letting the pressure get to you or any other athletes, obviously not just you. Was support in place for that?
Melissa Wu:
Unfortunately not a lot. Like I said, we had the AIS programme in Brisbane at that time, which has since, basically it’s just dissipated and everyone’s moved now into the State institutes. So that one programme in Australia doesn’t exist anymore. And basically that happened because it wasn’t the best thing for the athletes. And there was a lot of people that struggled mentally in that situation.
Melissa Wu:
And they were very strict. Like I said from a young age, that pressure, most of the pressure I felt was actually not just that I had to go and win a medal at the Olympics for competitions, it was to keep my place in that squad. Because they’re were quite cutthroat about it. And when I first went into that junior programme, I went in with three or four other athletes and within a year I was the only one left of those kids that they took in. And there were a lot of senior athletes.
Melissa Wu:
Even my first Commonwealth Games that I went to, it was amazing. But when I made the team that meant that one of my best friends in there got the boot, because she didn’t make the cut. So it’s really hard because you have these friendships and you all want to do well, but you’re all against each other as well. So it wasn’t a great place to be in mentally.
Melissa Wu:
So I did have a good coach. So that coach when I was young, took me to international level. He was awesome. I had a really good rapport with him. So for me that was everything. Because he was the one I wanted to impress and do well for. So I think that most of the mental support I received was from him and I knew he was always looking out for me and had my best interests at heart.
Melissa Wu:
But generally there wasn’t a lot of support there. So it was good in that it made me grow up pretty fast and I was around a lot of older athletes. So I just had to learn that. Learn to deal with pressure as I went. But it is something I did struggle a lot, I think, after the Olympics. I had to move up to the senior squad, which they should have done when I was starting to compete a few years before. But they let me stay with that coach for two more years, which is good.
Melissa Wu:
But once I moved up I really struggled a lot and I wanted to quit diving actually. So that’s what ended up forcing me to, not forcing me, why I made the decision to come to Sydney. Because for me it was literally I quit or I move. Something drastic had to happen. Because I think it’s hard when you get older and that teenage age.
Mat Lock:
Sure. And so you moved from, you were in Brisbane?
Melissa Wu:
I was in Brisbane.
Mat Lock:
You move to Sydney?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah. And I’ve been here ever since.
Mat Lock:
It’s home now in fact?
Melissa Wu:
Sorry?
Mat Lock:
It’s home now, it’s where you live now?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah. I actually grew up here. So it was like coming back I guess. So that’s why I chose to come here because it was like I was coming home. So my dad still lives here, my grandparents. And I had a good rapport with the coach that I train with now. So, it was a really good move for me. One of the best things that I ever did.
Mat Lock:
Well done of making it. So 12 years on from the first Olympic debut. That’s a stupid English. Your Olympic debut. What drives you now compared to what drove you then? You obviously have a hugely competitive streak in you. You have to have, to perform at the level you have and do. But I just wonder as you’ve evolved, and I’m not calling you old, but you’re 12 years older than you were since your first Olympics. How do you think that’s changed? What keeps you going?
Melissa Wu:
I think I’m pretty lucky in that I’ve always been pretty self motivated. So for those early years it was all about just getting to Olympics and making it. And then once I made it, it was about getting the medal and that kind of thing. But I guess, I did well, I wanted to keep going. And then I’ve kept going since then. And basically since then it’s just been all about getting the best out of myself.
Melissa Wu:
And as I said before, I had a lot of success at a young age in synchro. And I did compete at both. I competed Synchro and individual. And I quite often choked a lot in individual, not having someone there with me. I didn’t do as well under pressure. And I really struggled to overcome that.
Melissa Wu:
So over the years it’s just been this inner drive to not only to produce the performance I know I’m capable of, but I guess to do it for myself. And like I said, I did struggle a lot mentally, which resulted in me moving to Sydney. And even though I moved and was happy, I still struggled a lot mentally and didn’t feel good about myself. Which obviously is going to have an impact on performance if your mental mindset is not there.
Melissa Wu:
So then for me it’s been about overcoming that, not just so I can dive better but also just to benefit me as a person and basically achieve everything that I can do. So still been chasing that. I’ve made a lot of improvement and it’s made me really appreciate how hard you have to work for mindset. And the hard work that I have done has helped me in all aspects of my life. But yes, it’s still chasing the perfect performance and producing something I’m really happy with. You’ve got to be a real perfectionist in diving, so that drives me to keep going as well.
Mat Lock:
Absolutely. Huge kudos there I have to say for that level of self-reflection. And I guess adapting over the years and becoming more reflective. And it’s not so much about the accolades and the medals so much. It’s about you as a person growing and just striving to be better, if that’s the right word, whatever the word. That’s awesome. So that’s where we are today. So I guess along the way, you have started some businesses, correct?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah.
Mat Lock:
Alongside the huge sponsorship deals that all Olympians get. And I say that with [inaudible 00:19:38]. I was talking to a mutual friend Felicity Lemke, formerly Felicity Galvez. She laughed as well when I said that shit.
Melissa Wu:
I never even think they exist anymore. Any of those huge sponsorship deals.
Mat Lock:
Sure. [crosstalk 00:19:54]. All the work and energy and effort and everything that goes into it. But at the end of the day, there are bills to pay and so on. That’s just real life.
Melissa Wu:
Exactly.
Mat Lock:
Certainly you’ve formed a couple of companies, I believe. HrdKAW Strength, for example, and have Havok Athletic. Talk just a little bit about it. Maybe Havok Athletic. I think we’ll touch on HrdKAW Strength in the next episode. Maybe Havok Athletic. What’s that all about?
Melissa Wu:
Sure. Well as we’ve talked about, I’m not young anymore. So definitely-
Mat Lock:
You are young.
Melissa Wu:
I don’t know how much-
Mat Lock:
I’m nearly 20 years your senior.
Melissa Wu:
Every time I wake up in the morning, I feel I could probably be another 20 years older. But who knows how long I have left in the sport. I’m going to give it my all for the next, well I’ve another year now for Tokyo, which I didn’t…
Mat Lock:
Extended your career.
Melissa Wu:
Exactly. But going into this I didn’t expect to have that. So for me realistically, I wanted to start setting things up for after sport. And even though it’s always been really important to me to have something other than diving, I just never really enjoyed anything or found I was really doing what I loved.
Melissa Wu:
So I’ve been at uni for about 40 years now and haven’t finished a degree. I’ve just moved between them. So I’ll talk you through HrdKAW, later on. But basically Havok. I’ve always been interested in fashion and because I train so much, I pretty much live in active wear, so I just couldn’t find [crosstalk 00:21:32].
Melissa Wu:
And as an athlete doing fairly rigorous training, I couldn’t find some of the clothes that are comfy to train in. I decided to create my own. Especially here in Australia, there’s a few other brands in the U.S. and other places. But I just wanted to make something that was going to be a bit more accessible to people here. So I just started Havok. It was something I was thinking about and looking into for a few years. But just put it off. And I actually had a… God I’ve got a bad memory. I think it must’ve been I had some injuries.
Mat Lock:
You can make it up, no one will know. It’s your story.
Melissa Wu:
So basically I’ve had a bit of time off for injuries the last few years. So every time I end up with that extra time on my hands, I’m not training as much. I always kept coming back to it. So I think I just got to a point where I was like, stuff that, I’m just going to have a crack and just do it and I don’t want to keep thinking about the next time I get injured and be like, I should’ve done it.
Melissa Wu:
So basically just took the leap and started it. And it’s pretty new. And I’ve had to put the latest collection on hold because of Corona. So looking forward to bringing out something new maybe when we come out of this.
Mat Lock:
Absolutely. And I think maybe it’s the creative aspect of it, it seems, that that’s appealing to you there. Yes, of course it’s a commercial reality to it, but actually it seems it’s the creative aspect that you enjoy.
Melissa Wu:
Yeah. 100%. I’ve always enjoyed it. I’m not super creative. I like to try to be creative maybe. And something about it just keeps… Now I get my brain. So I definitely am drawn to it and I love doing it. And it is really different. Everything in training and diving is very regimented. There’s like a certain way it has to be done. But this is my own thing. It can be done however I like.
Melissa Wu:
And I guess too, it’s something that I really loved about this, is just bringing people together from different sports. So, I have a few ambassadors for Havok. I’ve got ambassadors from across different sports. I’m trying to create basically a community where people support each other and we’re all united together in strength, which can be physical, but also that mental strength as well. Which is really important at the moment.
Mat Lock:
Well, I think the strength regime is united by strength?
Melissa Wu:
Yeah it is.
Mat Lock:
United by strength. Which, is a wonderful message. Melissa I’m conscious of your time and very appreciative for your time and chatting us through and sharing with us your experience. If people want to get in touch with you or reach out to you or they want to find out more about Havok, how would they do that?
Melissa Wu:
Sure. So Instagram is probably your go to. My Instagram name is Melissa Paige Wu. So you can DME on there or my email address is in my bio as well. And then Havok, you can go to Havok Athletics. So it’s H-A-V-O-K. So you can find us on there. Or head to our website for Havok as well which is Havokathletic.com.au.
Mat Lock:
Sure. And I’ll put all that in the show notes of course. So that people can just click on it and go and find you. But thank you ever so much for your time today. Thanks for sharing. And massive congratulations for everything so far. And for Tokyo to come. And we’re going to have another chat and look forward to doing so.
Melissa Wu:
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
