At The Height Of Her Powers

Australia's Keeney wins battle with acrophobia to reach pinnacle of diving

- Samuel Tan

A fear of heights is a common phenomenon, with some studies published in the Journal of Neurology saying that roughly one in four people have it.

What is far less common, however, is twisting and somersaulting in mid-air before plunging into a pool of water while carrying that fear. Yet Australian diver Maddison Keeney somehow manages to do just that.

In an interview with The Straits Times, the 29-year-old said: "When I was a kid, I didn't really do platform (dives). I didn't like going in planes (either). I don't like standing backwards on the five-metre (platform) so anything higher than that, I'm like 'no thanks'."

She compromised by becoming exclusively a springboard diver at more comfortable heights of one and three metres.

Naturally a sporty kid from a young age, taking part in athletics, basketball and field hockey in school, her mother enrolled her in an after-school beginner diving programme after discovering her affinity for the water.

She said: "We had a pool at home and a pool ring. I liked jumping into the ring, so she thought that (diving) would be a good idea."