Knight-Wisdom a living testimony hard work pays off
Like most athletes, Yona Knight-Wisdom’s diving journey started with a dream to represent Jamaica on the biggest stage.
While he may have known that the road to such accomplishments would be lined with challenges, he was never truly aware that those would include his towering six-foot plus frame, his weight, and the fact that he was black, which made life difficult for him to fit in as a typical diver.
But with stubborn determination and a will to succeed, Knight-Wisdom, in 2011, set out on a path to become Jamaica’s first Olympic male diver and, despite the odds against him, the England-born athlete — whose mother Grace Knight is Barbadian and father Trevor Wisdom, Jamaican — rose to the occasion and has since stood out with much gusto.
Along with being Jamaica’s first male diver to compete at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, Knight-Wisdom is also the only diver from the Caribbean with two Olympic Games appearances — 2016 in Brazil and the delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo — under his belt, complemented by second-place performances at the diving World Cup in 2016 and the 2019 Pan American Games.
“I’ve always been ambitious, so those obstacles almost meant nothing to me. The fact that I had world-class examples [fellow England divers] around me day in and day out, plus the guidance of a coach who has been through it all himself was priceless,” Knight-Wisdom said.
“That support allowed me to push myself further than I have ever imagined, doing dives I’ve never thought I could do and getting to a level that I only once dreamed of,” he added.
Now, with the lessons learnt and experience gained in a career spanning well over a decade, Knight-Wisdom is hoping to be a guiding light to others via coaching and mentoring aimed at assisting both athletes and non-athletes to achieve what they once thought was impossible.
This through is recently launched business website yonakw.me.
Though toying with the idea for a while, Knight-Wisdom finally mustered the courage to bring the vision to fruition while working with the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.
“Through them I got the opportunity to do a qualification in coaching and mentoring and it fits in perfectly with the type of person that I am. I love helping people improve their own situation and I get a feeling of fulfilment from that, plus I’ve had so many different experiences from my diving career that can relate to so many people, so I decided to pursue it as a business.
“I needed to make sure that I got my qualifications first and I was also very nervous to actually register the business and share it with people because I’ve never done it before and I wasn’t sure what people would think or say. But the response so far, particularly from my peers, has been incredible, which brings about a great sense of pride, but the real work starts now to build it to the level that I dream of,” Knight-Wisdom told the Jamiaca Observer from his base in the United Kingdom.
“The website is there to explain everything and give an indication of the services that I offer. I’m also working on putting material together for an online course related to my performance principles. But the real value will be in my one-on-one coaching programme or mentoring sessions where I will help people to unlock their potential and improve their performance in whatever they do,” he added.
Having competed most of his career with very little financial backing since he rose to prominence, the 27-year-old is also counting on the success of this business venture to offset expenses around his athletic pursuit as he believes there is still enough in the tank to possibly turn out at the next two Olympic Games.
“I’ve not had any new long-term sponsors on board since 2018, so it is still an area I’m a little short in, but I’ve been proactive and found other ways to make money through social media campaigns, working with the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, and dive coaching.
“So I’m hoping the business will give me a method of earning more money to allow me to continue diving for as long as I want to. In addition to actually helping people, prolonging my diving career is the motivation because I feel like I still have much more room to improve,” the flag-bearing diver shared.
“My current plan is to get through to Paris 2024 and reassess my situation. If my body is still healthy, my mind is still fully in it, and my finances are in a healthy position with sufficient support, then I’d love to go for another cycle to Los Angeles 2028,” Knight-Wisdom noted.
With that in mind, Knight-Wisdom is now focused on striking a balance between training and building the business ahead of the July 28 to Auguts 8 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
“I’ve always had things going on outside of training, whether it be education, dive coaching, or other activities. I think that it’s of high importance to have something away from sport to bring perspective and balance.
“But I’ve just always made sure that diving remains central to my life, and everything else that I do must not take too much energy away from training. I know that building a business also takes a lot of work so it will be a challenge to maintain the balance, but diving will remain the priority until I decide to retire, and I love the challenge anyway,” the 2016 Leeds Beckett University Sports Man of the Year declared.
And he has proven just that.
Since launching the business, Knight-Wisdom copped silver in the 3m springboard dive at the FINA Grand Prix in Calgary, Canada, and even achieved a new personal best mark of 481.05 points for that event.
His previous best was 459.25 achieved in 2016 at the Diving World Cup. His current 1m springboard personal best of 429.90 points came at the 2019 Pan Am Games.
“This season has been one of my best yet so far, so I’m now just riding the wave and maintaining the momentum that has been building from my hard work through the winter. I finally beat my six-year-old 3m personal best, and I’m feeling more comfortable and confident with all of my dives,” he told the Observer.
The June 17 to July 3 FINA World Aquatic Championships in Budapest, Hungary, will be his next stop before the Commonwealth Games.
“As long as I stay on my current path, each dive should allow me to build nicely into the Games. I’m really excited for it. I know that Birmingham has a lot of Jamaicans and it’s not that far from Leeds, so it should be a really memorable experience, hopefully supplemented by some good diving,” Knight-Wisdom ended.