'Worth all the hours' for Plainfield, Purdue diver Daryn Wright as she prepares for Olympics

WEST LAFAYETTE — When Daryn Wright's sister was a swimmer for IUPUI, Wright found herself gravitating towards the diving end of the IU Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis to watch the meets.

Wright was just 9 years old and participating in gymnastics then, but it was her mother's intuition that said, maybe the background in gymnastics could translate to diving.

"So I started diving and my club coach is like, 'she can be special,' " Wright recalled. "I've never stopped. I stayed at the same club (Indiana International School of Diving) for a whole nine years."

Turns out, Wright was pretty special.

Now she'll be performing on the biggest stage in the sport.

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"She came into Purdue with maybe a mindset of let's see what happens with diving and a gear turned probably the last year (after) she missed out on a world championship team," Purdue diving coach David Boudia said. "Motivation was there, but maybe fearful. She put in the mental work."

The mental and physical work, combined with the motivation of missing out on the world championship team came to push Wright to a second-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June on the 10-meter platform.

After a four day wait to see if her performance was good enough for a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Wright received word that she was indeed a first-time Olympian.

The downside? Wright had to give up her summer internship, but entering just her junior year at Purdue in the fall, there's plenty of time for that.

Competing in the Olympics, that's an experience that'll last a lifetime.

Wright remembers her early days of diving. Thirty minutes in a car each way from Plainfield to Indianapolis. The long hours trying to perfect each movement off the boards. Giving up high school diving after two state runner-up finishes for the Plainfield Quakers so she could focus on club diving.

All those decisions proved worth it for Wright in the moment she was called upstairs at Purdue's Burke Aquatic Center to be presented flowers and an Olympic ring with the message she'd need to book a flight to Paris.

"It's so rewarding," said Wright, who'll compete on the 10-meter platform on Monday. "For every program, every person, I've been a part of, they can feel how successful you feel finally after. It's like, OK, this was worth all the hours we drove, all the time I spent at the pool. It makes it all worth it in the end and I wouldn't trade anything for it. I'd do it all over again."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: 'Worth all the hours' for Plainfield, Purdue diver Daryn Wright as she prepares for Olympics