Olympic quotas and Australian team selection will be the focus of athletes competing at two key diving events taking place in Brisbane from 30 November.

The 2023 Oceania Championships will see Aussie divers compete against their New Zealand counterparts with a goal of securing quotas for their country to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Following the Oceania Championships, Australia’s divers will turn their attention to a four-day trial event that will select the Australian team to attend the World Aquatics Championships 2024 in Doha, where further quota positions, including those for synchronised events, will be on offer.

The two-day Oceania Championships marks the start of the international season for Australia’s divers with one Olympic quota available per individual event. The winner of the Men’s and Women’s 3-Metre Springboard and Men’s and Women’s 10-Metre Platform will earn the quota for their country.

Australia has named eight athletes to contest the event, opting for a team that boasts youth and experience.

In the Men’s 10-Metre Platform, Tokyo Olympian Sam Fricker (NSW) will be joined by 17-year-old South Australian and World Junior Championships representative Jaxon Bowshire (SA).

Having recently made her senior team debut at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, Milly Puckeridge (NSW) is taking on the Women’s 10-Metre Platform alongside Tokyo Olympian Nikita Hains (NSW). 

Rio Olympian Brittany O’Brien (NSW) and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Georgia Sheehan (Vic) have been named in the women’s 3-Metre Springboard with the pair to face a fierce opponent in New Zealand’s Elizabeth Roussel who finished in the top 18 at the World Aquatics Championships.

Joining Tokyo Olympian Shixin Li (SA) in the Men’s 3-Metre Springboard, Kurtis Mathews (NSW) will compete for Australia for the first time since the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, after a four-year stint in the US college system. 

Diving Australia Performance Director Steve Foley said the Australian team is well placed to secure the quotas but would need to put their best feet forward against a strong New Zealand outfit. 

“With so much at stake, the Oceania Championships is a big occasion for all athletes, particularly those emerging in the sport as they have the chance to secure an all-important Olympic quota for their country,” Foley said. 

“There’s a good mix of youth and experience amongst the team, and we expect the competition to be close across both the men’s and women’s springboard and platform events.

“We’ve got some exciting young prospects who are knocking on the door to national team selection, and they’ll be looking to make a strong impression across the week. This is the first time in three years that the very best of Diving Australia has come together to compete for Australian representation with an Olympic Games in mind,” Foley said.

Tokyo Olympian Sam Fricker will be one of the busiest competing athletes as he attempts to gain Australia an Olympic quota in the Men’s 10-Metre Platform.

Fricker will then compete in the Diving Australia trials, where he will aim to make the Australian Team for the World Aquatics Championships 2024 competing as an individual in the Men’s 10-Metre Platform, and with Kurtis Mathews in the Men’s 3-Metre Synchronised.  

“Kurtis and I are doing well heading into these events,” Fricker said.

“Because we train together in Sydney we are able to spend two or three times training together a week. 

“When you’re diving synchro, the more time you can get together the better. You really want to try and match each other as close as possible. We’re good mates so we get along with each other really well, I really enjoy his company around the training environment,” he said.

The Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bronze Medallist was pleased with his individual training following a big year of competition.  

“My preparation has been pretty good in the lead-up to both competitions,” Fricker said.

“I took a little bit of a break following (our last major event over in Berlin) and then came back in and have built back up. I have been chipping away for a good few months so I am feeling as prepared as I can be. 

“I’m feeling really excited heading into comp, we’ve been doing everything we can to prepare.

“It would be really great to get a place on the team and then try and earn a quota spot at World Champs, that would be our goal but we are just taking it one step at a time,” he said.

Fricker said the Brisbane conditions could work to his favour.  

“As a diver, I like to be warm and Brisbane is warm. I much prefer the pool to be hot than cold because when you are doing your dives you want to feel loose and somewhat relaxed in your muscles to get the proper movement. I find that really effective in Brisbane,” he said.  

Diving fans will also get their first chance to watch Cassiel Rousseau in action since he was crowned world champion in the Men’s 10-Metre Platform.  Rousseau along with Olympic medallist Maddison Keeney, are sitting out the Oceania Championships as they have already secured quotas for Australia through results achieved at the 2023 World Championships but will be competing at the trials with the goal of making the Aussie team bound for Doha.

Olympic medallists Anabelle Smith and Melissa Wu – both returning from injury – are also among the cohort of athletes looking to book their ticket to the World Aquatics Championships 2024.

About

The Oceania Championships and Australian Diving Grand Prix (ADGP) including 2024 World Aquatics Championships Trials will be held at the Sleeman Sports Complex in Brisbane from 30 November – 6 December.

The Oceania Championships begin on Friday 30 November and conclude on Friday 1 December. The ADGP will begin on Sunday 3 December and conclude on Wednesday 6 December.

Live steaming and live scoring will be available via the Diving Australia website.