Elite Australian diver Maddison Keeney pin-points low point of her career as the turning point

Elite Australian diver Maddison Keeney has pin-pointed the low point of her career as the reason for rebounding to the heights of winning world championship gold and Commonwealth Games medals.

Elite Australian diver Maddison Keeney has pin-pointed the low point of her career as the reason for rebounding to the heights of winning world championship gold and Commonwealth Games medals.

In 2015 at the world championships a nervous Keeney stepped up for the 1m springboard, took a deep breathe and misfired badly.

Maddison Keeney in action.

“I failed to dive in the final,’’ the Holland Park West resident said.

“It was a diaster, so I had to come back in 2017 and do the same stuff all over again.

“But it was one of the most important moments in my whole career.

Maddison Keeney Photo AAP/ Ric Frearson

“It put a lot of things into perspective, like why I was here, what am I training for.

“I struggle a lot with nerves and that (failing to dive at the world champs) was an outcome of having those problems.

“So it was a wake up call. I thought “how do I get over this, how do I prevent this from happening again’’.

Maddison Keeney

“So now at the big moments like the Olympics or world championships, I can call on that experience and what I have learned.’’

Two years later at the world championships in Budapest, Keeney beat her nerves and overcane any self doubt to win the sameevent, the 1m springboard.

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“It was one of my goals. The next is the 3m which is my main event,’’ said 22-year-old Keeney who trains with the Diving Australia squad at the Chandler Acqutic Centre.