DURHAM, N.C. -- Before making her way to London for the 2012 Olympic Games, Duke diver Abby Johnston stepped away from collegiate competition and undergraduate studies for a year to focus on chasing her Olympic dream. After coming away with a silver medal in women's synchronized 3-meter diving, Johnston hopes to find herself right back in the mix this August in Rio.

This time around, though, Johnston has had to juggle her preparations in the pool with the demands of being a full-time medical student. She is coming off of her second year of medical school at Duke, where she has also been training at the Blue Devils' Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion under the guidance of Duke head diving coach Nunzio Esposto.

The balancing act has presented a unique challenge, but one that Johnston feels fortunate to be able to pursue back at Duke.

“The day that I got into medical school is definitely one of the highlights of my life,” she said. “It's an honor to be at Duke and be in medical school. It has the best facilities, best training environment for me and I'm really happy to be able to pursue both medicine and the Olympics at the same time. I don't think that would be possible at any other place.”

For Johnston, who will compete in the women's individual 3-meter event in Rio, the inspiration to chase both dreams simultaneously came four years ago in London. While eating McDonald's in the Olympic Village cafeteria, Johnston happened to meet U.S. rower Gevvie Stone, who competed in the single skull event. The two struck up a conversation, with Stone telling Johnston she was in medical school back home in Boston.

“I was like, 'Wait, you're in med school and you're at the Olympics?'” Johnston recalled. “Lightbulb moment. Meeting Gevvie was really a crucial thing for me to be able to do what I'm doing. We've stayed in touch actually. I was just in Boston a few weeks ago and had lunch with her. She's a couple of steps ahead of me in the process — she's applying for her residency. She's been a really great inspiration for me.”

While in her first year of medical school, Johnston — a Psychology major and member of the Collegiate Athlete Premedical Experience (CAPE) as an undergrad — obtained permission from Duke to switch her second and third years. The move allowed her to delay her clinical rotations until next year, and spend this past year conducting research while sticking to a regular training schedule in the pool.

“Medical school is a bit more rigid in the scheduling,” said Johnston, who won one NCAA crown and five ACC titles at Duke (2009-11). “It's not like you can pick classes that work with practice times. I'm lucky that Nunzio was willing to help me adjust my training schedule and fit me in with whichever practice worked best. It was a bit more of a shuffle. Every day has to be a little different.”

A typical day during the school year began with practice from 6:30 to 8 a.m. Johnston would frequently join Duke varsity and club divers at Taishoff for those sessions before heading off to either the Duke Clinical Research Institute or Perkins Library on campus. She would work on her research projects, head back to the pool for a second practice around the lunch hour and then spend the rest of the day working once more.

During the seven weeks leading up to her medical board exams, Johnston dedicated even more time to studying, leaving her with less time to sleep and prepare to do it all over again the next day. However, she remains appreciative of Esposto's flexibility in scheduling her training sessions.

“I'm really excited and happy to be diving with Nunzio,” she said. “He's the perfect person that I need at this point in my career. He's very upbeat and always encouraging. It's a collaboration. We really work together on figuring out what I need to succeed in my competitions and my training. I really like that partnership that we have.”

The partnership with Esposto and time spent balancing her athletic and academic pursuits has paid off for Johnston, who claimed silver on the 3-meter board at April's FINA Puerto Rico Grand Prix before heading to Indianapolis for last month's U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

The U.S. had just one spot on the Olympic Team in women's 3-meter diving heading into the Trials, but was approved for a second spot in between the semifinal and final rounds. Johnston finished second behind only Kassidy Cook with a three-round total of 949.30 points to lock up her second Olympic berth.

As she makes her final preparations before traveling to Rio, Johnston says she plans to draw upon her previous experiences, even though she will be competing in the individual event this time rather than in synchro with a diving partner.

“I'm definitely channeling some of the tactics that I used in 2012 to try to avoid any of that extra pressure and chaos that comes along with the Olympic Trials and Olympic Games, and trying to treat it like any other meet,” she said. “We've been doing a bunch of practice meets. For me, that's good just to get up there and hear Nunzio announce, 'Abby Johnston, 205B,' and just hearing my dive and kind of feeling those butterflies so that I'll hopefully be able to control them in the moment.”

Johnston's plans after the Olympics include completing her clinical rotations and then potentially venturing into emergency medicine. The high-pressure environment of that particular atmosphere appeals to her personality — and aligns with the scenarios she faces daily on the diving boards.

As for Rio, Johnston said that she continues to be motivated not only by the younger divers she practices alongside every day at Duke, but also an internal drive that is not yet satiated.

“The college and club divers are great,” she said. “They all have a lot of enthusiasm for diving, and that's refreshing, because I could be really jaded at this point in my career. But I think their excitement for learning new dives and just showing up at the pool every day rubs off on me.

“I still get those butterflies when I'm on the board. I'm still excited to compete and feel like I'm chasing the Olympic dream. I know I have the experience that I can draw from, but I wouldn't be doing this if I felt like I was satisfied with my career. I still feel like there's more to be had and more that I can do.”