Alysha Koloi

Brisbane diver Alysha Koloi was the last one to know when she won a world title in the 1m springboard in February 2024 – because she doesn’t like to know her ranking as a competition progresses.

“I don’t watch any of the other divers or look at any scores,” Alysha said. “I had absolutely no idea in the final round where I was sitting or how anyone else was going.

“I can’t change what anyone else does or what the judges do. So there’s no point in me watching it.”
Although she didn’t know it, Alysha was doing extremely well at the world championships in Doha, taking the lead on the fourth of her five dives and holding on in the final round to win with a total of 260.50 points.

“My name flashed up in big writing on the big screen. My teammates were screaming, telling me I had won,” she said. “It was just an overwhelming experience. I didn’t think it was real. It was very much a pinch-me moment.”

Alysha was a promising gymnast as a child, before a hip injury in 2015 forced a change of direction. When her younger sister Sophie urged her to give diving a try, she was initially reluctant – because diving involved landing head-first. But eventually she was persuaded.

“The elite coach snatched me up within the first week,” she said. “It definitely took a long time to start loving diving and the adrenaline rush really helps. I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie. The aerial awareness and flipping and counting your rotations is very transferable from gymnastics to diving.”

However, she remains reluctant to go near the 10m platform, preferring to focus on the 1m and 3m springboard.

Alysha won a bronze medal in the 3m springboard at the junior world championships in 2018, only three years after committing to the sport. Earlier that year, she won three gold medals at the junior national championships.

Two years later, she combined with Georgia Sheehan to win the 3m synchro event at the Diving Australia World Cup trials, and she won silver at senior international level at the FINA Grand Prix in Madrid in 2020.

After landing top-five results in the Diving World Cup in 2023, she finished second behind Olympian Maddison Keeney in the women's 3m springboard event at the Diving Australia trial event held in Brisbane in late 2023, before her breakout performance at Doha.

Alysha finished second behind Maddison in the 3m springboard at the Australian championships and nomination trials in Adelaide in June 2024 to secure her place on the team for Paris.

“I’ve dreamt of this moment since I was five years old and I still don’t have the words, but it really means everything to me,” she said.