MARK ETHERIDGE: Lows as well as highs for diver Julia Vincent

Mere months before Julia Vincent entered this world, SA was diving into a historic first democratic elections.

This year, the two-time Olympic diver could in all likelihood be taking her final competitive plunge at the Paris Olympics in France, while here in SA the May elections could be a nip-and-tuck affair in the run-up to the Games.

Two days after the Olympics wind up, she’ll turn 30 and these days, Vincent, who competes in the 3m springboard event, is probably more buoyant than ever, both in her sporting and personal life.

Speaking during her journey back to Kentucky, US from Xi’an, China via Seoul, South Korea, she says: “The highlight of my diving career might actually be from this past week at the World Aquatics Diving World Cup Super Final.

“Although it didn’t feature all the athletes I would be up against at the Olympics, there was a big chunk of them competing and I had the best preliminary event of my career. I set a personal best score and finished second in the prelim. I ended up finishing seventh in the final but to me, the prelim was a huge win personally because I have been working on being better in the prelim.

“I used to find prelim events daunting, more so than finals, so for me to be able to do that was a huge confidence boost. Now my goal is to do it when it matters, at the Olympics.”

She admits she’s had more lows than highs during her 15-year career but has loved it through every season, with her last two seasons collectively being a high as, bar one competition, she’s stayed in the top 10 at every international competition.

She made her Olympic debut in Rio eight years ago but says one of her lowest moments came after the global shutdown amid the Covid pandemic and in the build up to the 2020 Olympics, which were postponed by a year.

“I was blessed to be able to continue my training to an extent because a friend of mine has a 1m diving board at their home pool. In theory, that was an incredible blessing but in reality, I found myself exhausted all the time. There was so much uncertainty and I had no idea what I was training for because I didn’t know when regular life would resume.

“It felt like I was the only person in the entire world that was doing any sort of training and as grateful as I was for that, it’s hard to feel like you’re doing it on your own.”

She was studying and competing for the University of South Carolina at the time and there was yet more uncertainty pre-Tokyo Olympics as her long-time coach Todd Sherritt was retiring and she’d need a new coach.

Born and raised in Sandton, the Kingsmead College-educated sports ace realised she was struggling with her motivation.

“I could just feel it in my soul, and for many reasons. South Carolina was great to me and it’s where I did my undergraduate [majoring in public health with a minor in psychology] and then a masters in public health.”

When Sherritt retired one of the diving alternatives he suggested was Kentucky.

“When I visited Kentucky I instantly fell in love with life and diving again. My new coaches are Ted Hautau and Chunting ‘Cara’ Wu [the latter originally from China] and they’ve been working with me for the past two years.”

She said it was their approach to coaching that helped her find her passion for diving again. “It was still extremely intense, with a lot of expectation but I felt like I was being treated as the 28/29-year old that I was, instead of a youngster. I’ve always been particularly hard on myself but now I felt a sense of freedom, and all I felt from the team was pure support.”

Speaking of support, Vincent had a childhood that was anything but normal. “I grew up in a single parent household, and I’m very proud to tell people that. My mom [Cressy] is an absolute queen. The older I get, the more I realise just how much strength my mom has.

“She never got married and is still not married to this day. She knew she wanted children though so she decided to go with IVF [in vitro fertilisation].

“Sometimes I joke with her and tell her that she needs a man, not because she needs anyone, especially a man that might just bring more stress to her life [she says this with a chuckle], but maybe she needs one because she herself deserves to be taken care of now.”

Yet she’s brutally honest at the privileged background she was blessed with. “I feel wrong saying that I found life challenging at times growing up in a single parent home, because I’m from a white family, I grew up in Sandton and went to a private high school. 

“I recognise the ‘white privilege’ that I had growing up and never want to pretend like I was not ‘well off’ for a South African.

“In saying that, things weren’t always easy financially and the only reason we lived in Sandton was because my mom made so many smart financial decisions prior to having my brother [Nicholas] and me.”

Adds mom Cressy: “I’m very proud of her... she’s not finished yet. She’s a very focused little girl, well, young lady now, and I’m very proud of that.

“We call her the little tortoise from the old Aesop fable about the tortoise and the hare. So many of her competitors are younger than her and go in with such gusto... but our tortoise just continues to be focused.

“Seeing her latest success makes all those early morning drives to Kingsmead in our pyjamas, getting coffee from the garage, the sacrifices... are all worth it.” 

Vincent junior has another reason for loving life at the moment. It was in Kentucky that she rediscovered her love for diving and life in general and also  found the love of her life in Briggs Alexander. The two are engaged and will get married next May.

“Some would say I was only dating the sport of diving until now,” she beams.

“I needed a temporary place to stay and my plan was to stay in his [Alexander’s] spare bedroom while I looked for my own apartment. We became best friends, eventually fell in love, and the rest is history.

“Now I’ve found new balance in my life — living a rewarding life outside diving while having support from everywhere.

“He was a retired swimmer when we met and was also coaching, so he has a great understanding of the needs of an elite athlete.

“He’s now also gone back to school to get his doctorate in physical therapy which works very much in my favour as I often need physical therapy.”

What’s not to like about that relationship?

Like any top-level sport, training is tough as she practises twice a day for about two and a half hours at a time. Mornings are dedicated to mainly dryland work and afternoons involve pool training and drills.

Throw in three sessions of weightlifting, two days of cardio and it’s not surprising she often takes two days off over the weekend... “since I’m not a spring chicken any more — but I usually do some form or active recovery on a Saturday to encourage blood flow for healing”.

Her plans for Paris? “My goals are big... I’ve put so much time and energy into this that I’d be doing myself a disservice if I wasn’t striving for a medal.

“Most important goal though is to take it one dive at a time. It’s easy to fall into the materialistic things that the sport brings, like medals and rankings, but if I take each round, one dive at a time, I’ll be satisfied, regardless of the outcome.”

Diving is deeply ingrained in Vincent’s psyche. “The most rewarding thing for me are all the lessons I’ve learnt through it. It’s taught me so much about myself... and I’m also blessed to come from SA. It’s a country that has taught me so much about taking what you have and making the most of it.”

It doesn’t take long to see what a presence she has on the SA diving scene.

Says long-time coach/judge and diving fanatic Dominique  Philippopoulos who has been involved in the sport since the 80s: “She’s just an amazing competitor, ever since her first days at my Rippers diving club, always polite, never loses it on pool deck, and constantly showed an interest in the up and coming divers.

“She’s really liked internationally, the diving community has always been interested in her and have fond memories of this tiny girl trying to dive from years back.

“Importantly she leads by example, showing how to deal with whatever life throws at you. She’s also proved to our youngsters that you can do it even though it’s not an overnight success. A lot of our divers have followed her example and are now on diving scholarships in the US.”

Philippopoulos’ sentiments are backed by Vincent’s young protégés. Says Grace Brammer, who represented SA at the World Junior championships in 2022: “She’s not only made a splash on the SA diving world but had a big impact on divers around her. She shows that the goal of getting to the Olympics is reachable as a South African. It’s always a privilege and pleasure to compete with her and watch her dive. Her influence has achieved a ripple effect on others to push themselves.”

Those sentiments are backed up by Bailey Heydra who finished second to Vincent on the 3m board at the SA nationals.

“She’s a person who has broken the boundary for SA divers in recent times. She’s top 10 in the world, and is someone who one can only be inspired by. She inspires the youth and even people who are older and gives great hope to other divers.”