She’s just 16, and she’ll be the underdog to make the Australian team at the Olympic trials in April. But so rapid has been her ascent, don’t put anything past her.

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GEORGIA WHO?

Sheehan was just eight years old when she first saw her idols compete. By the time she had just turned 15, she was competing alongside them at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the youngest member of the Australian diving team. “Georgia keeps surprising us,” says her coach, three-time Olympian Mathew Helm. As she did in Glasgow last year: the Ipswich-bred diver placed fourth. “I couldn’t believe I’d come so close to a medal,” she says.

The success and subsequent self-belief has sparked an 18-month purple patch. Since Glasgow, she has accumulated 19 medals from various Australian and international events – seven gold, four silver, eight bronze. Now she’s building to the Rio 2016 qualifying event; Sheehan says the trials are as close to the Games as possible because, technically, “so much can change within a year.” Which she can attest to, as so much has changed in the last year. In 12 months, she has learnt and improved the senior list of dives to a competitive standard. “I believe she’s put a few athletes, who are on the top of their game at the moment, on notice,” Helm says. There are two spots on the Australian diving team for the 3m springboard and five athletes who are a realistic chance of making it.

If Matthew Mitcham became a household name after his gold in 2008, Helm is his Buzz Aldrin. In 2004 Helm won silver in the 10m platform diving at Athens – the first medal by an individual Aussie male diver in 80 years. Sheehan has adopted his perfectionist approach. “When I first met her she was fairly laid-back,” Helm says.

But this year she has claimed the World Junior title and silver from the Madrid Grand Prix. But none of her medals are on display; she has them all tucked away in a cupboard. So if it’s not achievement that motivates her, what does? “I just love the sport, I really do,” she says. “It’s so unique.”

WHAT'S HER STORY?

After watching Melissa Wu win her 2008 Beijing Olympic silver medal in the 10m synchronised event, Georgia wanted out of gymnastics. “I remember going to my Mum and saying, ‘I want to try this – this is so cool.’” Her Mum, Paula, responded with a flat “no.” Sheehan was already doing 20 hours a week as an eight-year-old gymnast, and the prospect of a second sport was too much. Eventually, though, Paula buckled and the Sheehan family plunged into uncharted waters. Paula called Diving Australia looking for advice on where to take her daughter; they liked Georgia’s potential (as a gymnast) and invited her to their Brisbane headquarters. The next week, Georgia was one of 13 young divers in a national talent identification program.

WHO'S SHE LIKE?

|At 173cm, Sheehan is tall for a diver. She has been described by NSW coach Chava Sobrino as the ballerina of the Australian squad. Coach Helm actively encourages his charges to pick a style and work on it. Some are powerful; others, like Georgia, are more elegant. Helm says her height and style match that of 2004 Olympic champion Wu Minxia.

WHAT DO THEY SAY?

“Her biggest challenge over the next couple of months is her mental approach. She’s a really good competitor, but she does tend to stress out when it gets close to the competition.” – Mat Helm, 2004 Olympic silver medallist and Georgia’s coach.

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