#GC2018 | World Champion Diver Confirmed for Gold Coast Commonwealth Games
Western Australian diving star Maddison Keeney has earned selection onto the Australian team for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The Brisbane-based world champion will focus on the 1m and 3m springboard events and will also partner Anabelle Smith in the 3m synchro when diving competition commences at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in April.
Keeney has enjoyed a meteoric rise since graduating through the WAIS development pathway into Diving Australia’s high performance set-up in Brisbane. She won a world title in the 1m springboard at the 2017 FINA titles having pocketed a bronze medal in the 3m synchro with Smith at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Her success was all the sweeter after she had previously baulked on her penultimate dive when seemingly set for gold in the 1m springboard final on her Commonwealth Games debut in 2014 and had failed to register a score on her final dive at the 2015 World Championships when again well positioned for the podium in the 1m showpiece.
Despite a storied career, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Keeney will not celebrate her 22nd birthday until May. Gold Coast will be Keeney’s second Commonwealth campaign for Australia, adding to an athlete C.V. already boasting Olympic and dual senior World Championship representation.
Outside of diving, Keeney keeps herself busy with a double-degree at the University of Queensland where she studies Computer Science and Physics, she is also an avid collector of Pokemon toys.
The Australian Diving Team will feature 14 athletes on the Gold Coast with the four days of competition spanning April 11-14.
Keeney is the fourth Western Australian representative officially confirmed on the Australian Commonwealth Games team, joining the earlier selections of Caitlin Parker (Boxing), Madison de Rozario (Athletics) and Laura Coles (Shooting).