I am an obsessed adrenaline junky, says decorated diver Julia Vincent

JOHANNESBURG – Julia Vincent lives for the thrill of flipping through the air and graciously diving dinto the water.

With every dive, the Olympian recreates an adrenaline rush while leaning into her faith and believing that she has done all she can.

Having qualified for the Paris Olympics at the 2023 World Championships, she’s fine-tuning her dives.

“My goals going into the Paris Olympics are big, I have put in so much time and energy that I would be doing myself a disservice if I wasn’t striving for a medal, but I think the most important goal I have is to just take it one dive at a time. I want to be able to master that as the final thing I do in my career. It can be difficult to stay in the moment when you’re competing,” said Vincent.

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The 29-year-old recently competed at the World Aquatics Diving World Cup 2024 Super Final in China, where she took seventh place.

“Overall, I am excited about my performance at the Diving World Cup Super Final. I achieved a personal best score in the preliminary event and although the 7th place finish in the final wasn’t the result I wanted, I feel hopeful for what is to come as we get closer to the Olympics. Many of my competitors that were in this event will be at the Olympics so it was great practice going up against them.”

The American-based athlete tells Eyewitness News that diving is huge in the United States compared to South Africa due to access resources, adding that there are more people interested in the sport.

“Diving in the US is huge compared to South Africa. There are more resources as a whole and more money is put into diving in the US. To put it into perspective, the club dive team that I coach in Kentucky has more divers than all the divers that attended SA Nationals this year. The United States is a much bigger country so it makes sense, but there is a much greater interest in the sport compared to the interest in South Africa.”

The athlete has represented South Africa at two previous Olympic Games and completed her studies in the US. Vincent now lives and coaches part-time in Kentucky while concluding her diving career.

“I graduated from the University of South Carolina with my bachelor's degree in 2017, as well my master's degree in 2021 studying public health.”

When she completed her studies, she became the most decorated diver in the programme's history.

She was a three-time all-American and four-time CSCAA Scholar All-American for the Gamecocks.

“I chose diving as a sport because I was so intrigued by the thrill of flipping through the air. The moment I saw the diving boards at my high school pool [Kingsmead College], I was obsessed with being at practice every single day and learning all I could about diving. I have always been a bit of an adrenaline junky in my life so this was just natural for me.”

In competition Vincent dives off the 3m springboard, or what is commonly referred to as the high board, which is roughly 1 story high.

“I think for any athlete, it is imperative to be striving to have good mental health. For me, this plays a huge role in my ability to perform during competitions and to practice at a high level. When my mental health is not good, it becomes very obvious in my diving,” she explained.

“I work on this daily with breathing exercises but also with my sports psychologist, Jo Mountford. She has helped me to work through challenging times not only in diving, but in my everyday life by teaching practices that allow me to let go of the things I cannot control and focus in on the things that I can. I also lean on my faith and the strength I have found in the Lord.”