Nontraditional road leads diver Margo Erlam to first Olympics

Margo Erlam has sacrificed a lot in order to get to her first Olympic Games.

The 22-year-old from Calgary will compete in the three-metre diving event on Wednesday in Paris, facing off against the world’s best.

Erlam might be from Calgary originally, but she decided to make a rare move and come to Saskatoon to advance her diving career when she was only 16.

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It’s not typical for a 16-year-old to decide she wants to move to Saskatoon from the mountain backdrop of Calgary, but Erlam said she felt it was the best thing for her going forward.

“I was really struggling with confidence and a lot of mental health issues. I just really didn’t like my coach (in Calgary),” she said.

“I had been with him since he was nine and he was very hard. I just didn’t like it very much – I wanted a change and I was really thinking about quitting the sport.”

Listen to Margo Erlam on Behind the Headlines:

Erlam said she reached out to Saskatoon coach Mary Carroll, and asked to do a trial with her.

“I fell in love with her coaching style and the team was so amazing and so less competitive than Calgary was. Everybody was so loving, so I just stuck with it,” Erlam said.

But while Erlam was sold on moving to Saskatoon, her parents were hesitant at first.

“My parents were not keen on Saskatoon. My mom has always wanted me to live in Montreal. She’s French, and wanted me to go there. My dad is a pilot with WestJet, so he used to fly from Calgary to Saskatoon all the time, so he’s like ‘This is a good spot to be,’ but obviously they didn’t want to give me up at 16.”

Despite the hesitation, Erlam said her parents wanted to do what was best for their daughter and were more than happy to send her to Saskatoon so she could continue pursuing her Olympic dream.

Erlam admitted that moving away from her family and friends in Calgary wasn’t easy, but she had some support from her teammate, Olympic bronze medalist Rylan Wiens.

The Wiens family let Erlam live with them when she decided to move to Saskatoon.

“The first year was pretty hard. I lived with Rylan and in his basement for a year and a half. Having to make new friends and new teammates and not having my family was really difficult,” she said.

“My sister moved to the United States to go to university when I left, so I was alone, my sister was alone, and my parents were empty nesters. It was difficult, but I’m glad I made it through it.”

Erlam said the Wiens family was amazing, and she’s thankful they took her in when they did.

“They were really great support, and still are,” she added.

Erlam called the entire move to Saskatoon a positive one and said her relationship with Carroll has been good.

“Mary and I have had some ups and downs, but I think it was all worth it in the end. We found our groove and we work very well together and we’re very similar, I’ve heard,” Erlam said.

Whatever groove the two have found is enough to take both Erlam and Carroll to the Olympic Games in Paris.

Making it to the Olympics has been a dream come true for Erlam, and she said she was feeling very emotional when she learned she’d qualified.

“The media was saying it was a surprise that she (I) qualified, but deep down I knew I can do it. I’m not an emotional person usually, but I think it was just the relief that I get to live out my dreams,” she said.

“It’s always been a dream to go to the Olympics since I was four. It really hit when I was 11 or 12 and I made my first junior national team. It was like ‘OK, this is something that could actually happen.’ It really didn’t hit me until about six months ago when I really wanted to go for it and I knew I could.”

Heading into her first Olympics, Erlam said she’s picked the brains of some current and former Olympians to learn about what to expect.

“I’ve gotten lots of advice from Mary and Rylan. They’ve kind of let me in on what it’s going to look like and the village and what it’s going to feel like. It’s been really fun,” she said.

Erlam added that it’s tough to prepare for the biggest stage in the world, but says she’s looking to do her best.

“I’m just going to go and do my best and trust the work Mary and I put in and enjoy being in this environment with the best in the world,” she added.