Five years ago, Cassiel Rousseau had never once had a formal diving lesson. Now the 20-year-old has just put forward one of the best performances by an Australian in the Men's 10m Platform at the Olympic Games. 

Only two Australians have performed better in the event on the world's biggest stage, Matthew Mitcham and Mathew Helm, both of whom are Olympic medallists.

Success at the Olympic Games flows through Rousseau blood with Cassiel's grandfather, Michel Rousseau, himself an Olympic gold medallist in Cycling from the Melbourne 1956 Games. 

"I'm really proud of myself for qualifying for the Olympics for an amazing country," Rousseau said. 

"I'm sure my grandfather would have felt pretty much the same thing from when he qualified for France in 1956." 

What makes Rousseau unique in the diving pool is his casual demeanour. Whereas other competitors seclude themselves in their knitting or don headphones to block out the noise of the competition between dives, the Australian embraces every aspect of the contest. 

Rousseau can be seen cheering on his competitors, chatting with his friends, and hanging out in the hot tub without a worry in the world. 

From the outside one might think that such an approach shows a lack of seriousness, but for Rousseau it couldn't be further from the truth. When the Aussie is having fun, he unstoppable in his quest for excellence. 

But even with his pure love of the sport, Rousseau acknowledges that he still has plenty to learn. 

"There were two people younger than me in that competition, but I'd say that I'm the least experienced in that group," Rousseau said. 

"Everybody else has three or four times more experience than me. I'm really proud of myself and where I've come from and what I've done so far." 

"In that final I kind of just felt like a tadpole swimming around with the sharks." 

This is clearly just the start for Rousseau who has a long future in the sport ahead of him.  

The next step is Paris, and to the question of whether the Queenslander is excited, he had just one response. 

"Hell yeah." 

Courtesy Australian Olympic Committee