David Boudia officially announces retirement as competitive diver
by Jared Cruz-Aedo
David Boudia officially announced his retirement from the sport of diving Wednesday on Instagram.
The thought of retirement for Boudia started after his final dive at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for diving.
“You always hear people say you’ll know when it’s time to hang it up, and I never believed that. I do now,” Boudia wrote in his Instagram post. “I took my final dive at Olympic Trials in 2021 and the following months were rough. But ever since that dive, not once have I had a feeling of ‘I need to get back in.’”
Boudia competed in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games in the men’s synchronized platform and individual platform events, earning four Olympic medals. In 2012, Boudia won gold in the individual platform event and bronze in the 10-meter synchronized platform event. During the 2016 Rio Games, Boudia won silver in the 10-meter synchronized platform event and bronze in the individual platform event.
Boudia has five World Championship medals (four silver and one bronze) and won two World Cup medals. He has a combined total of 44 medals in FINA and Olympic competitions.
Boudia wrote that it still brings shivers to his spine when he is called an Olympic Champion.
Even though Boudia is no longer diving, he still continues to spend time at the pool. He’s now coaching alongside Adam Soldati as an assistant coach at Purdue University. Boudia also was a coach for the 2022 FINA World Championship team.
“I couldn’t be more eager to continue to learn from one of the best. I look forward to continuing to be immersed in the diving world as a coach and see what the next chapter holds. Eyes set for Paris 2024, just in a new role,” Boudia wrote.