Diver Ellie Cole on chasing perfection and beating impostor syndrome

Australia Broadcast Center

19-07-2025

In the last 12 months, diver Ellie Cole has experienced more than most teenagers.
She made a final in her first Olympics, competed at a World Cup, won two national titles and now, she's diving at her maiden World Championships.
It's a lot for a teenager who quietly made her way onto the international scene.
"Oh my gosh, they [the last 12 months] have been chaotic, but fun," Cole told ABC Sport.
"I took away so much, I learnt so much, I just kept developing and growing as an athlete."
The pursuit of perfection is hard in any sport, and as Cole recently found out, it takes a good deal of mental toughness too.
"I think the most important thing I've learnt in terms of my diving, is the strength of my own mindset," she said.
Cole loves diving. You can see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice.
The way her long limbs glide through the air and into the water has even been described as art.
And for Cole, that is part of the sport's appeal.
"I feel like it really ties together both art and power," she said.
"I just think it's really beautiful."
The other thing that keeps her focus is the potential of a perfect score.
"It's the chase of perfection I love about it [too]."
At the Paris 2024 Olympics Cole was on a high, making the final of the women's 10 metre platform event.
She finished seventh overall — the best result for an Australian in the competition.
After that came the World Aquatics Diving World Cup, which Cole says was a big mental challenge.
"It's the first time I went into a competition, and I didn't perform the way I would have hoped consistently," she said.
"I had a bit of impostor syndrome and it kind of clouded my brain. It was hard for me to come out of."
The event was split into three competitions across three locations, Mexico, Canada and China.
In Mexico, Cole finished in 11th and in Canada she came ninth.
Between Canada and China she was able to come home for a week, train, and lean on her support network.
"My coach and parents helped me see that I'm not defined by my performance at those competitions," she said.
Cole ended up going to China with a positive mindset, made the semis and finished with a performance she was happy with.
"It was good to end the World Cup with a highlight," she said.
Cole is just as impressive outside of the sport as she is in it.
She will move to the United States later this year, having accepted a place at Stanford University, where she will dive and study over the next four years, with a view to becoming an aerospace engineer.
"Ultimately, I decided that it was the best thing for me and an opportunity I can't pass up," she said.
Cole has been doing extracurricular science projects since she was in primary school.
More recently she did a Year 12 Science Extension research project looking at recirculated air in tunnels.
It got selected as part of the International Science and Engineering Fair.
"I got onto the team to represent Australia with my project, but I wasn't able to go because I had World Championships trials," Cole said.
For the World Championships, Cole joins a team of 13 other divers, who will compete in Singapore from July 26 — August 3.
She'll dive in the Women's 10 metre platform event, and the 10-metre synchronised and mixed team events.
"It's a little bit different to the Olympics and the World Cups," she said.
"This is where all the athletes from all the countries of the globe come, and it means the competitions are going to be a lot longer."
Cole has been strategising on how to use that waiting time wisely.
"I usually only focus on the dive when I'm up on the platform," she said.
Leading up to it, she tries to think about anything else. She plays Blockudoku on her phone, or listens to music.
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Her plan for the competition is to take each dive as it comes, and have fun.
"Adopting this new positive mindset, I'm just going to enjoy my experience," she said.
And as long as Cole keeps her love of diving, we'll keep seeing her on the platform.
"My goal is just to keep enjoying the sport," she said.
"I love the feeling of flipping in the air, I love the chase of perfection, it brings me so much joy."