Melissa
Citrini-
Beaulieu

In 2020, Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu capitalized on her opportunity to complete her studies in nursing science at the Université de Montréal. Initially, 2020 was going to be dedicated to intense preparations for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. But once the Games were postponed until the summer of 2021, Citrini-Beaulieu knew she would have the time to complete her studies.

She contacted the university in March 2020 and went on a six-month on-line program which she said required 12 hours a day of studying in order to finish her degree while also maintaining her training regimen that is required of a future Olympian.

In 2019, Citrini-Beaulieu and her partner Jennifer Abel won the silver medal in three-metre synchro at the World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea securing their nomination for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. It was a second straight world silver for the pair.

Citrini-Beaulieu, who has resided her entire life in St. Constant, Que., has known she wanted to be a diver since age 2. She was constantly jumping from the side of the family pool. Her parents thought she wanted to be a swimmer, like her brother, but young Mélissa knew even then that diving was her calling. Her mother finally registered her for diving classes in Chateauguay when se was 4 – and she has never looked back.

After successful years with the national junior team, Citrini-Beaulieu has achieved a lot of success alongside Abel, a three-time Olympian. Apart from their world championships success, in 2018 they also took silver at the World Cup, as well as four podiums in four World Series events.

The turning point for Citrini-Beaulieu was at the 2016 Nationals when she posted a disappointing result. It was at then, she decided to completely overhaul her approach to the sport so she could become a better athlete. In November, Citrini-Beaulieu’s new technique appeared similar to Abel’s and the pair decided to give it a try in synchro. Fortunately, during that time Abel was searching for a new partner. The chemistry was evident right away and now they are an Olympic-bound team. The pair have forged a strong friendship and a common goal to excellence.

For 2020, while her and Abel were out of the pool for nearly four months due to the shutdown, Citrini-Beaulieu sees the Games postponement in a positive light and an opportunity to have one more year to become a better diver.

In her down time, Citrini-Beaulieu loves to cook with her mom to relax. She loves to spend time with her family and friends at the family cottage. She considers herself a bit of a klutz in her everyday life and loves to travel!

Career highlights

• 2 World Championships podium
• 1 World Cup medal

Best score

323.43

Women’s 3m synchro
2017 FINA World Championships