Bio: Nikita Hains

About Nikita

Nikita Hains made her first Australian Olympic Team with a breakthrough performance at the 2021 Australian Open Championships incorporating Nomination Trials. The Western Australian, who currently trains in Adelaide, is quickly making a name for herself in the diving world as both an individual and synchronised partner on the platform.

• How did you get your start in diving? I’ve been in elite sport my whole life, beginning my journey as an elite gymnast at WAIS from ages 6 until 13 and competing up to junior international level on the Australia team. I made the transition to diving at 13. I jumped off the 10m platform on my first session and instantly fell in love.
• What has been the greatest influence on your sporting career? I attribute so much to both coaches, my current coach Chava Sobrino and Rick Schavone, whom I had when i moved to the National Training Centre in Adelaide at 18 years old. They have been incredibly influential to not only my diving, but me as a person. Also my family - they’re the ones always keeping me going and being my biggest supporters.
• Who is your diving inspiration? I’ve never had one particular source of inspiration, but the Chinese platformers are incredible and I would say I’m in awe and inspired by them.
• What do you love about diving? Diving from 10m can be scary, but the adrenaline rush is addictive, I love the feeling of being able to use my body in such a unique way and get that feeling of flying. I am also very attentive to detail, so I love how technique-based our sport is. The feeling after nailing a dive is also something that will never get old! There’s this suction feeling if you rip off 10m and it’s an incredibly satisfying feeling after going through the adrenaline rush.
• Most challenging part of diving? The inconsistency of diving can be frustrating at times - there is so much room for error that a great dive can be followed by a mistake or a miss and that can make really challenging to maintain confidence, particularly in competition.
• Favourite place to dive: I may be biased, but it's my home pool in Sydney. In terms of international pools, my favourite so far has been Tokyo.
• Something you might not know about me: I was born in Australia, but my family lived in Indonesia at the time so my first plane ride was at 5 days old ! I could speak three languages by the age of two (sadly I’ve lost all of them but English).
• Hobbies outside of diving: I love all things interior decorating, exploring new places and watching sunrises and sunsets.
• If you were not a diver, what sport would you do? I’ve always wanted to try pole vaulting, but I’m not a very fast runner so I don’t think I’d be that good!

International Results