Tucson’s Delaney Schnell competes in the women’s 10-meter platform diving preliminary during the Paris Games. Although she didn’t medal in her two events, she embraced her experience in Paris. (Photo by OLI Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
PARIS — It was clear early on that diver Delaney Schnell had the right personality to become an Olympian.
Her mother, Cindy Feaman, who was her middle school cross country coach, recalls Schnell not wanting to run one day. All of a sudden, something clicked in her as she walked to the trophy table.
“She walked over to the award table, and there was this horse trophy,” Feaman said. “I saw her eyes, she’s staring at it, I saw her eyes, and I knew she was going to run that race hard. She came in second, but she gave it her all to try and get that trophy.”
That drive has allowed former Arizona Wildcats standout Schnell to become a two-time Olympian. The Tucson native competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she won the silver medal in the synchronized 10-meter dive alongside her teammate, Jessica Parratto.
In Paris, Schnell qualified for the 10-meter synchronized dive and 10 meter-platform dive, the same two events as the Tokyo Games. She returned to the Olympics with Parratto, and they placed sixth in the synchronized dive.
Schnell made it past the preliminary round for the 10-meter dive, but placed 15th in the semifinals, which wasn’t enough to qualify for the final round.
She still enjoyed everything about the Paris Games, including the opening ceremony. Instead of entering into a stadium of fans, each country was introduced on a boat that traveled six kilometers on the Seine River. The United States sent 594 athletes to Paris – the most of any country – and Schnell received the experience of a lifetime.
“Getting to ride on the Seine (River) and see Paris and just like the craziness of the crowd, and we got to see every aspect of the opening ceremonies, that was super cool,” Schnell said
Before she became a two-time Olympian, Schnell competed as a gymnast. In fact, her sister first believed that she could become an Olympic gymnast. While she hasn’t competed on behalf of the country alongside the likes of Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee in Paris, her gymnastics career was an important prerequisite to her diving career.
“I’ve always liked the sports that have a little bit of thrill to it, and gymnastics definitely has a lot of thrill,” Schnell said. “You’re doing a lot of cool little flips and tricks and spins and twists, and I’ve always really liked that element – the artistic element – of sports.
“I knew I wanted to be in a sport that had a more artistic side to it, and so transitioning to diving wasn’t really planned because I thought it was too scary when I watched it, but it clicked pretty quickly. (On) my first day of practice, I knew that it was going to be a good sport for me to be in.”
Shortly after her diving career began, she was representing the United States in international events and competing for the University of Arizona to compete in the Pac-12 under Dwight Dumais, who also coached her in both Olympic trips.
Schnell has represented the United States at two consecutive Olympics. The 2020 Tokyo Games and 2024 Paris Games were different. As the COVID-19 pandemic still ravaged the world in summer 2021, the Olympics continued with some drastic changes: Fans weren’t in attendance at any events.
“The environment is just a lot more electric,” Schnell said. “You have people cheering ‘U-S-A.’ you have people cheering for countries that aren’t even up yet, you have noises during the dives, and in Tokyo you didn’t have any of that because there was nobody in the stands.”
It’s even different for the friends and family members of the athletes competing. Family members weren’t able to make the trip to Tokyo, so Delaney’s family was invited to watch her compete from Orlando.
This year, a few of her family members traveled across the pond to see her compete in her second Olympics, which was a less nerve-racking experience than watching her compete in the 2021 Games.
“It was more nerve-racking in Orlando,” said Reilly Schnell, Delaney’s younger sister. “I just feel like because that was her first Olympics, so it was just like the pressure of that and we know she’s a professional.”
Her mother added that it was less stressful and nerve-racking this time around because they’re able to see her in between her events. The family has experienced a much more normal Olympics, including the excitement of trading pins and athletes having more freedom to go where they please.
“I think that we were actually forced to interact with everybody there because we were all kind of in our own bubble,” Delaney said. “Here, we have the opportunity to leave and we have the opportunity to see family and friends and so I think it’s actually easier to be a little bit more disconnected here, which I actually do appreciate.”
What’s next remains to be seen. Schnell, 25, is wrapping up her master’s degree in clinical speech-language pathology and Parratto is Team USA’s oldest diver at 30.
“It’s been a really special three years,” Parratto told TeamUSA.com. “Nothing takes away from what we’ve been able to accomplish. Our Olympic silver medal from last time around and our world medal from last summer. There are so many great takeaways. It could have been anyone up on that podium today. Unfortunately, today, it wasn’t us. But again, we’re really happy and proud of each other.”