Australia’s Olympic hopefuls in diving are in Adelaide to contest the 2024 Australian Open Championships incorporating Nomination Trials where athletes will aim to secure their ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

A who’s who of Aussie diving has assembled for the competition with four-time Olympian Melissa Wu (NSW), World Champion Cassiel Rousseau (Qld) and Tokyo Olympians Sam Fricker (NSW), Shixin Li (SA) and Nikita Hains (WA, based NSW) all in attendance. 

Following her selection to the Australian team in the women’s 3-Metre Synchronised, (alongside three-times Olympian Anabelle Smith) Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Olympic medallist Maddison Keeney (WA, based Qld) is also contesting the event, now focused on securing a start in the women’s 3-Metre Individual. 

Australia’s experienced divers will be put to the test by a new generation looking to breakthrough for a debut Olympics appearance with Women’s 1-Metre Springboard World Champion Alysha Koloi (Qld) amongst a strong group of up-and-coming divers striving for a position on the team. While the 1-Metre is not contested at the Olympics, Koloi also competes in the 3-Metre and she is targeting this event. The Women’s 3-Metre will be one of the most hotly contested at these trials with Rio Olympian Brittany O’Brien and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Georgia Sheehan also in the mix. 

South Australian teen Jaxon Bowshire is another athlete on the rise and he will contest the Men’s 10-Metre Platform with strong competition to come from World Champion Rousseau and Olympian Fricker. 

Bowshire finished second behind Rousseau at a trial event to select the Australian team for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha where he made his senior team debut.

“It has been a huge year for me, and I am really excited about the rest of the year regardless of this competition,” Bowshire said. 

The 18-year-old has put his head down since returning from the World Aquatics Diving World Cup Super Final in Xi’an (CHN) and will be hoping the hard work he’s put in with his coach has paid off.

“Andy (Banks) and I have been going through our standard program but have placed some emphasis on building up higher numbers and dealing with larger loads to be able to create consistency from a larger volume of high DD (degree of difficulty) dives,” Bowshire said. 

The SA teen said he would not become complacent, despite having the home ground advantage.

“Every pool is slightly different and knowing the pool is great, but the last thing you want is to become too comfortable. It is also nice to be able to have friends and family there to support me through the comp. Although I honestly think the best thing about being here though is the fact that I will be at home every night in my own bed,” he said. 

In August, Bowshire will move to Texas to study Aerospace Engineering and join the University Diving Team at Texas A&M. The experience will allow Bowshire to pursue his dream of becoming a Formula 1 Engineer while continuing to dive competitively. 

“I will be going from living at home with my family to living by myself, in a new country at a new school with new coaches and training partners. I’m definitely going to miss everyone but I am really looking forward to the challenge,” he said. 

The 2024 Australian Championships incorporating Nomination Trials run from Wednesday 5 June – Sunday 9 June at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre. Final team nominations will be announced by the Australian Olympic Committee shortly after. 

Diving Australia Nomination Trials - Schedule (All times ACST)

Preliminaries and Semi-Finals in the individual events commence from Friday with synchronised events being held on Thursday. The non-Olympic 1-Metre Springboard events will be contested on Wednesday. 

Saturday 8 June 
Women’s 10-Metre Platform – 5pm – 6pm 

Sunday 9 June  
Men’s 3-Metre Springboard – 12pm – 1pm 
Women’s 3-Metre Platform – 2:10pm – 3:10pm 
Men’s 10-Metre Platform – 4:00pm – 5:00pm 

Please visit diving.org.au for details on live results and where to watch.