Tokyo 2020 Olympic finalist Anton Down-Jenkins has announced his retirement from competitive diving. Down-Jenkins, who represents New Zealand internationally, made the announcement via Instagram over the weekend.
Down-Jenkins, 24, made history for New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics as he became the first ever Kiwi to make an Olympic final. His appearance in Tokyo was already historic, as he was the first New Zealander to dive at the Olympics since Mark Graham and Gary Lamb in 1984. Graham placed 18th on the 3m springboard at those Games, while Lamb placed 22nd.
Down-Jenkins made his senior international debut at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. He ultimately placed 14th on the 3m springboard with a score of 326.70, while he paired with teammate Liam Stone to place 8th in the 3m synchro event.
In addition to his storied international career, Down-Jenkins has been a staple within the NCAA diving realm since 2018. He began his NCAA diving career at the University of South Carolina, where earned All-American status his freshman and sophomore years. He ended his freshman year with a 13th place finish at NCAAs in the 3-meter, scoring 689.45 (12-dive score). While the 2020 NCAA meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he qualified for the meet in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events.
Following his sophomore year, Down-Jenkins elected to transfer to the University of North Carolina to train under the tutelage of Yaidel Gamboa. The move correlated to significant success, as he was named ACC Diver of the Year for both the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons.
In 2021, he was the ACC Champion in both the 1m and 3m events, before placing 18th (1m) and 4th (3m) at the NCAA Championships.
In 2022, he defended his 1-meter ACC title before placing 2nd in the 3-meter event. At NCAAs, he would go on to place 8th in the 1-meter event and 6th in the 3-meter.
Down-Jenkins won’t be stepping far away from the pool with his retirement, as he hinted he would be taking an assistant coaching position at UNC to work under his former coach, as well as with the North Carolina Diving Club.
Career Best Scores
- 1m – 425.85
- 3m – 452.25
- Platform – 258.00
Anton is a fine person & beyond his diving, he is a great student. Currently he is working for a Masters Degree in collegiate sports administration, a two year degree at UNC. He is also assisting with collegiate & club coaching.
Met him over the summer. Super kind and genuine person!