Mila Klyne is an exceptionally talented and driven young diver who is the current Australian Champion in all three events (1m Springboard, 3m Springboard and Platform), Australian “Diver of the Year” and recipient of Australia’s “Most Outstanding New Talent”. Mila’s sporting journey has been remarkable and inspiring, and she needs your help to reach the next destination toward her dream of representing Australia at the World Championships and Olympics.

A snapshot of Mila’s journey

Before diving, Mila was an elite gymnast (women's artistic gymnastics, WAGs). She had won the blue-ribbon “All-Around” event at every Queensland Championships she competed in, was a Queensland Champion in the individual apparatuses of Floor, Beam and Vault, and led her team to “Australian Club Champions” with the highest “All-Around” score in Australia for her age. During these years, Mila picked up just about every significant award for gymnastics that she was eligible for.

Then, in September 2021, a change of direction was set in motion after Mila was invited to “try-out” for the Australian Diving National Talent Program (NTP) following a state-wide “hunt” for potential future Olympic divers. Unsurprisingly, Mila was 1-of-40 Queenslanders selected. Since her selection, and making the very difficult decision to leave gymnastics, Mila began showing outstanding promise…and winning.

Mila quickly progressed from basic training to qualifying as the youngest Queenslander to compete at the NTP Nationals, to becoming the Australian Diving National Talent Program (NTP) Champion, to becoming the Australian Elite Champion across every diving event, and to achieving Australian “Diver of the Year” and Australia’s “Most Outstanding New Talent”. On the back of these results, Mila became the youngest diver to be selected for the National Talent Squad. It is fair to say that things have moved quicky in diving for Mila.

Despite her successes, Mila is amazingly grounded, kind, caring and always puts others before herself. She is seen as a leader amongst her peers and draws immense satisfaction from supporting her teammates.

Where to now for Mila

In Mila’s words, her sporting goal has always been simple — “to be better than last time”. More recently, however, she has started setting her sights on bigger challenges. The most obvious of these is to medal for Australia at the Junior World Championships and, in the not-too-distant future, Olympics.

These goals drive Mila’s everyday life, from the little extra things she does (e.g., going through dive motions/routines) on waking at 4:30 am before training, to staying back after training to stretch for longer, to practising during her leisure time (e.g., dive practice on the trampoline). Mila is the epitome of hard-work and persistence — and for that reason we undoubtedly believe that Mila will reach her goal of achieving for Australia at the highest level.

How your contribution will support Mila

It goes without saying that hard-work and persistence is a recipe for success. However, experience has taught us that the journey to success is filled with life-defining moments and opportunities. These “moments” and “opportunities” for Mila include access to the best coaches and training facilities, access to the best sports healthcare professionals, and competing in upcoming interstate and international competitions — all of which incur substantial costs. Your generous contribution will help open these doors to leverage Mila’s abilities in ways that may not otherwise be possible.

The funds raised will be directed towards covering essential training/coaching costs, healthcare costs (e.g., Mila requires ongoing eye treatment to correct her vision to enable her to dive), travel (e.g., airfare and accommodation) costs for crucial domestic and international competitions and training camps, and essentials such as training and competition wear. Your support is crucial to help cover this financial burden so that Mila can continue her journey towards achieving her World Championship and Olympic dreams!