It stands to reason that will know what to expect when she goes to Paris in July for the Olympics. This will be her second, after the Tokyo games. That’s not the case, however, she said.
“A big difference will be, and something I am looking forward to is, diving in front of an audience,” she said.
Hentschel, a rising third-year international studies major at The Ohio State University and a member of the German Olympic team, won a bronze medal in Tokyo in 3-meter synchronized diving. Those games were moved from 2020 to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It made for an unusual experience, Hentschel said.
“We dove in front of our teams and the other teams but there was no crowd, no one cheering for us,” she said. “When we won the medal, we basically walked to the podium in front of an empty stadium.”
Hentschel is thrilled, then, to share this year’s competition with her parents, who will join her in Paris, and her Ohio State family, who will be rooting for her back in Columbus. Some of Hentschel’s professors, she said, are more excited than she is.
And she’s bringing some Buckeye spirit to France.
“I always carry at least one Ohio State shirt and I always have my little stuffed Brutus with me,” she said. “I always have a little bit with me from Ohio State. It makes me happy to think about it.”
Some of Hentschel’s Ohio State swim and dive teammates will be in Paris on other national teams. Having competed in different international competitions, they rely on one other for support.
“We know each other so well because we dive together every day,” she said. “We know what it’s like to also travel for our national teams and what that means as a sacrifice – we have to travel more.”
Hentschel’s diving partner, Jette Mueller, trains in Germany. It is not possible to train and study full-time there, Hentschel said. Degrees can take years longer than they do in the United States as a result. And Hentschel didn’t want to waste any time on either.
“The U.S. system is considered the best in the world to continue your diving career and your academics at the same time. I’m so grateful to be part of this community,” she said of Ohio State. “I chose that path because now I’m continuing my diving at an extremely high level here – we have a really good team and coach who can coach me at the level I need – and at the same time, I can do my classes. I get support from my advisers, my tutors, my professors. That’s why I came to Columbus, Ohio.”
Hentschel credits much of her success to her time at Ohio State.
“I wouldn’t be the person I am right now without going on this path,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the next two years [at Ohio State]. … My teammates have been so supportive. They were so happy when they found out I’d qualified for the Olympics. They understood what it meant for me.”
Hentschel’s competition is the first on the first day of diving, which is one of the Olympics’ earlier events. So, she’ll have the chance to do something else she couldn’t do in Tokyo due to COVID-19 restrictions: watch other sports.
“I have a whole list,” she said. “I’m excited for the diving, of course. I’m going to be the cheerleader for my team since I’m done first.”
Women’s volleyball and gymnastics – Hentschel hopes to see Simone Biles compete – are also on the list, as are her Ohio State teammates.
Hentschel said she’ll watch anything she can get tickets to, though.
“At the end of the day, I love watching sports at the Olympics,” she said. “I think it’s special to see all the athletes fighting for medals. It doesn’t matter what sport because every athlete and every journey is incredible.”