Sam Fricker

Fast Facts

Sport: Diving
Event: Men's 10m platform
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Coach: Chava Sobrino
Year Born: 2002
State Born: NSW

About Sam

Promising youngster Sam Fricker boasts an impressive resume. The Newcastle-born diver, eco-business founder and aspiring commerce student shows no signs of slowing down in any of his duties.

Fricker’s involvement in diving was sparked out of his intent to impress a girl he had a crush on when he was 11, who was also a diver. Whilst he had a background in gymnastics and trampoline, the daunting transition into the pool has already proven to be the right choice.

At just 12 years-old, Sam became a triple-gold medallist in the boys 12-13 years age category at the 2015 National Age Diving Championships, winning the 1m Springboard, 10m Platform and 3m Synchronised Springboard dives. He also placed second in the 3m Springboard.

His stellar performance saw him take out the title of Diver of the Year in the 12-13 years category. He also caught the eye of recruiters from the New South Wales Institute of Sport’s (NSWIS) diving program, who offered him a scholarship in the diving program. When he turned 14, he was granted funding through the Commonwealth Games Australia NSW Athlete Grant Program, making him their youngest ever recipient of the financial backing.

His family relocated from Newcastle to Strathfield in 2015, as he’d spend up to 23 hours a week training at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre with NSWIS. He also moved to Trinity Grammar School, joining their diving squad from Year 7, where he would eventually become captain of the Diving fraternity.

At 15, he suffered a concussion while trying out a new twisting handstand-style dive. He went on to perform the very same dive at the Australian Open Championships a fortnight after his incident, where he finished 6th overall. His disappointment was short lived, as he travelled to Germany the next year, where he made it to the final stage of the 2018 Dresden International Youth Diving Meet, a tournament he had previously missed out on due to a broken wrist.

Outside of the pool, Fricker is director of eco-startup Tsarian, which he founded when he was just 17-years-old.  

Tsarian, a venture born out of the shock Fricker felt upon viewing the infamous video of a turtle with a plastic straw stuck in its nostril and struggling to breathe, enters the green market with the offering of wheat-based straws as an alternative to other non-biodegradable material-based utensils. While he is the founder and director of the business, he credits his family for helping him with its management as he juggles his work, education and diving career.

Fricker's Olympic dreams came true at the 2021 Australian Open Championships, when he qualified himself a spot on the Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo. He made his Olympic debut at the age of 19, competing in the Men’s 10m Platform in which he finished 28th.

In Tokyo, Fricker began qualification strongly, completing a back twister dive which scored 67.20 points, a score that outperformed British Olympic Gold Medallist Tom Daley in the opening round. His final qualification dive – an inward three and a half somersaults – earned 70.40 points.