Sinead Diver

Late to the sport of athletics, over the last few years Sinead Diver has competed at three consecutive world championships and compiled an extraordinary series of personal best times which now rank her amongst Australia’s greatest long-distance running women.

Born in Ireland, Sinead enjoyed climbing cliffs and swimming as a child. She attended a conservative Catholic school in the small Irish town of Belmullet where academics were the priority and they didn’t encourage girls to participate in athletics, aside from playing a little basketball at lunch.

Because of her love of sports, she went on to study physical education and Irish teaching at the University of Limerick, followed by post-grad study in computing, an industry she has worked in ever since. 

After initially coming to Australia on a working holiday visa in 2002, she emigrated to Australia in her mid-20s.  

In 2010, aged 33, she joined her sister Gráinne’s work team for a Corporate Cup event. Keen to get fit post-pregnancy she decided to join in.

One of the people on the team was surprised with how well she ran and suggest she join a recreational running group called Crosbie Crew. It is here that she met Tim Crosbie who would be her first coach. 

Initially, her success was over shorter distances, but she knew she was better at longer distances and was intrigued by the marathon. After the birth of her second son, Dara, in 2013, Sinead decided to make her marathon debut in Melbourne in 2014, where she ran 2:34.15, placing second.  

“After my first one, I knew that was the distance for me,” she said. 

The time qualified Sinead for the Irish team for the 2015 World Championships, but shortly after this Athletics Ireland toughened their standard, making her time now outside the standard. Australia was more accommodating and selected her for the world championships, where in the stifling heat of Beijing, she made her international debut placing a magnificent 21st. 

In 2017 she smashed her PBs including a 2:31.37 marathon in Nagoya, followed by placing 20th in the London World Championships.  

Over two years in 2018 and 2019, Sinead compiled a breath-taking series of performances from 5000m to marathon as she destroyed her personal bests, matched it with the world’s best and leapt up the Australian all-time list. 

She brought her 5000m PB down to 15:23 and was third in the national title. At 10,000m she won Zatopek and the Oceania titles, then placed 14th at the 2019 world championships setting PBs along the way highlighted by Doha’s time of 31:25.49 – fifth fastest Australian ever. Over the half-marathon, she won the 2018 national title and clocked two sub-69 minute times in Japan reaching a best of 68:50.  

Her best work was in the marathon. She set two personal bests 2:25.19 in Melbourne, then 2:24.11 in London, elevating her to number three Australian all-time. She placed seventh in London, then fifth in New York, against world-class fields.  

In October 2020, she endured the challenge of travelling during COVID, placing eighth in the London Marathon with 2:27.07. 

Selected for the Tokyo Olympics at age 44, Sinead became the oldest Australia ever to compete in Athletics at the Olympics.  

“I find it extremely frustrating that a lot of the media attention I get is mainly focused on my age,” Sinead said.

 “I know, in some ways, it’s meant to be complimentary. Not a lot of athletes continue to find success in their 40s but I’ve been running for a relatively short period of time, so it’s a very different scenario for me. Succeeding at any age is all about your mindset.

"I’m still really motivated and determined because I haven’t been doing it for that long. My age isn’t an issue with people I train with. They’re all a lot younger than me but they show me the same respect as anyone else in the group.” 

In her Olympic debut in Tokyo, Sinead placed an outstanding 10th, the highest placed Australian woman in the event at the Olympics since Lisa Ondieki won silver in 1988 – 33 years ago. Her pathway to the top had been unlike any other on the current Australian Athletics Team.

Selected for her sixth Australian team, Sinead competed in the marathon at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games where she placed 5th in a time of 2:31.06. Later in the year, she headed to Valencia in Spain, where at her third attempt she broke the Australian marathon record by 62 seconds, clocking a time of 2:21.34 minutes. It lowered the record set by Benita Willis in 2006 – 16 years prior.

“I have wanted this for so long and I wasn’t sure if I was good enough to get it. I’ve had a few goes at it now, this was my third crack at it and every time I line up, it takes a lot. Things have to really fall into place so I’m beyond delighted that it’s happened,” she said.

“Benita (Willis) is Australia’s best runner of all time so it’s an honour to now have this record. I couldn’t be prouder today.”

She had received a boost on the start line when she was informed that training partner Brett Robinson had broken the Australian men’s marathon record in Japan.
“It’s really special to get this record on the same day as Brett,” Sinead said.

In 2023 she won the Australian marathon title held in conjunction with the Sydney Marathon. On a hilly course in oppressively warm marathon running conditions, she clocked 2:31.27.