Abby Johnston is used to the feeling of speeding toward something that is rushing up to meet her.
Most of the time for this two-time Olympic diver, what's rushing at her is the water. But often it is high-level schoolwork. Johnston, 26, will start her third year at Duke's medical school in August on the day after she gets back from Brazil and the Olympics.
And some of the time it's her social life. As if she weren't already busy enough, Johnston just got engaged to an assistant football coach at Duke. Now she has a wedding to plan as well.
How does she do all that?
"I think I'm good at partitioning things," Johnston said. "And I don't procrastinate a lot. I don't have time."
Johnston has long thrived in situations where good decisions must be made in a split second. For a diver, the few moments in the air before splashdown mean everything. As an aspiring doctor, Johnston has picked emergency medicine as her specialty.
"I like that's it always different and you don't know what's going to come through the door," Johnston said. "I also like the fact that it's a high-pressure situation, which I guess is pretty similar to what I've been facing all along in my athletic career."
In 2012, Johnston was a surprise medalist at the Summer Olympics in London. She and partner Kelci Bryant teamed up in synchronized 3-meter springboard diving. They won a silver medal in what Johnston called a "perfect experience." Johnston has never watched the video of the competition, which was won by a Chinese diving pair, because she said she doesn't want to dislodge her incredible "firsthand memories."
