A two-time Olympian diver from Dover, New Hampshire, is coming out of retirement with hopes of competing in the Paris Games.
Jessica Parratt is preparing for the Olympic Diving Trials, which begin on June 13 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“Almost from day one, I was a diver,” Palatto said. “Both my parents are swim coaches, my mom is a diving coach, so it was a family thing. My dad coached my sister in swimming, and my sister coached me in diving, so it was really special growing up like that, and I just fell in love with the sport.”
Growing up on a pool deck in Dover, Parratt said he just enjoyed doing flips and didn't have to look far for inspiration.
“I definitely watched my dad, Jenny Thompson, an Olympic swimming coach, and thought, wow, I'd like to do that one day, but I didn't realize it would become a reality until much later.”
When Jessica Parratt was 14, she moved to Indiana to train at USA Diving's National Training Center. She lived with a host family for six months until her parents were able to join her.
“When I asked my parents about it, they never said, 'Oh, go for it,' they said, 'No, this is something you have to decide.' If this is what you want to do in life and you're passionate about it, then you should go for it,” Parratto said.
She trained seven hours a day.
“When I first moved here, I was super scared. I was surrounded by national champions and Olympians and I wondered what I was doing here. I felt like I didn't fit in,” Palatto said. “I wanted to get a college scholarship and go to nationals one day. Little by little, I worked my way up from there.”
She qualified for her first World Championships by the time she was 17, and competed in her first Olympic Games the following year, placing seventh in Rio.
“In Rio, I knew I could compete with the best skaters in the world, but before that, I had no idea,” Palat said. “During practice and training, my coach would always tell me, 'You can do it. I believe in you and me.' I wanted to believe in him, but I had to believe in myself first. When that happened, I think it marked a big change in me mentally.”
She competed in Tokyo with confidence.
My biggest mantra that day was, I want it more than anyone else, and I repeated that in my head that day.
Jessica Parratt
“My biggest mantra that day was that I want it more than anyone else, and I kept repeating that in my head that day,” she said.
Parratt won silver in the synchronized 10-meter platform with diving partner Delaney Schnell, and she had the moment photographed bringing the medal home to her parents, who couldn't be with her because of the pandemic.
After years of coaching athletes who have won dozens of Olympic medals, this was the first time her father had ever won a medal.
“It was like, hold onto your stuff, share that experience, look what we did. And it wasn't just for me, it was for them too. So it was a moment for them too. It's just beyond special.”
Adding to the weight of this moment, Palat went into the Tokyo Olympics determined that this would be her last Olympics.
“I guess I was just ready to move on with my life. I was really happy and content and pleased with what I'd accomplished in my career, and especially after winning an Olympic medal, I never dreamed of that happening. So I just wanted to have some time to spend with my family,” Palatto said.
Now she's back after spending some quality time with her sister, who just had a baby, and she's hoping to share her gold medal with her family in Paris.
“It's amazing. To be in three Olympics. I couldn't ask for more. I never thought I'd be able to say that in my career. So to be able to go and play in the normal games is really special and I'm really looking forward to it. It's especially great for me to have my family there. So that's what I'm looking forward to the most,” Palat said.
She expressed gratitude for all the local support.
“It's a small town in New Hampshire, but there's a lot of pride. There are a lot of people who are successful in swimming and diving. I think my parents played a big part in that. It's really special. They were able to get their name out there with the Seacoast Swimming Association. It's really special to be in the town where I grew up and see them swimming poolside every day.”
And, of course, her parents.
“My mother has been a huge, pivotal player in my career. A lot of people don't know that she coached me diving until I was 14, but she's been super important to me and just my mindset and being able to stay in the moment and certain mantras that I make sure to say every day now that I'm an adult and going into my third Olympics. She never pushed me into a sport or made me do anything I didn't want to do. It's always come from me. So I think that quote is really, really important because I know she's very proud of me. And this is as much my journey as it is my mother's.”
My mother has been a huge, pivotal figure in my career, and this is her journey as much as it is mine.
Jessica Parratt
Paris may be Palat's last Olympics, but she's likely to remain in the Olympic world: she's interested in sports media and has already won an Emmy Award for her sports studies at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The U.S. Olympic Diving Trials will be held June 17, 2024 to June 23, 2024 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
