Jaxon Bowshire

As a seven-year-old growing up in Adelaide, Jaxon Bowshire had a bright future as a gymnast until a serious injury changed the direction of his sporting journey.

Jaxon had been a diver from an early age, taking his first leap off a springboard at the age of four. “I followed my sister Lacey into diving and always aimed to be as good as she was,” Jaxon said.

But he was a state representative gymnast with big plans – until he suffered a broken arm and “some pretty bad nerve damage.” Continuing with gymnastics wasn’t an option and Jaxon was encouraged by coaches Steve Black and Kevin Hall to put more of his time into diving as a lot of the strength required comes from the legs.

Jaxon represented Australia at the 2022 world junior diving championships, after winning a bronze medal in the team event at the World Cup in Berlin. As a 17-year-old, he won gold in the 10m platform at the Dresden International Youth Diving Championships in Germany. “After a mediocre preliminary I made a great comeback and was able to share the podium with fellow Aussie Jonah Mercieca,” Jaxon said.

At the 2023 Australian Elite Youth Diving Championships, Jaxon showed his class as he won the Boys A 1m final, A 3m final, A platform final and the Boys A/B Platform Synchro with Mercieca.

That year, he was also named as the Commonwealth Games Emerging Athlete of the Month for June.

Jaxon’s specialisation in the 10m platform has allowed him to stand out, even though he admits to having to deal with the fear of diving from such a height. “At first there where days I was too scared to do any dives,” he said. “Although it still scares me, I am significantly more confident on the board nowadays.”

He competed in the 10m platform at the 2024 world championships in Doha, finishing 21st, and in June he nailed down his place in Paris when he finished second on the high board at the Australian championships in front of a hometown crowd in Adelaide.

“It’s been a wild ride to get here, but I'm really happy with that result,” Jaxon said. “To have my friends and family here made a difference, hearing the cheers before and after the dive was great support.”