Vincent’s position in the 1m springboard final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
While her name might not yet be muttered alongside the most popular individuals in South African sport, diver Julia Vincent has managed to lift the profile of her code, consistently twisting and turning among the best in the world.
Standing at 1.54 metres and weighing in at 57 kilograms, 25-year-old Vincent wasn’t always a diver, and despite her small frame she was attracted to multiple sports in her youth.
Vincent competed in hockey and netball at Kingsmead College in Johannesburg, and she was also a talented middle-distance runner, but ultimately she chose to focus on diving.
In 2010 and 2012 she represented South Africa at the World Junior Diving Championships, and after leaving high school she moved to the United States where she attended the University of South Carolina, majoring in public health.
In 2018, closing out her collegiate career, Vincent finished second in the one-metre (1m) springboard and third in the three-metre (3m) springboard event at the NCAA Championships, earning first-team All-American honours.
It has been her performances in SA colours, however, which have seen her standing out among the country’s elite athletes.
At the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, shortly before her 19th birthday, Vincent participated in the 1m and 3m springboard events, as well as the 3m synchronised springboard with Nicole Gillis.
Though she didn’t progress beyond the preliminary rounds, she finished 20th out of 39 competitors in the 1m event. Three years later, after finishing 28th at a World Cup event in Rio and winning the 2016 national title, Vincent achieved one of her career goals by qualifying for the Olympics.
“It was a great feeling, knowing that everything that I had ever worked for and everything that I dreamed about was becoming a reality in that moment, with my friends, family and the people I love surrounding me,” she said after securing her spot at the Games. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”
Making her Olympic debut at the Rio showpiece, Vincent settled for 29th place in the 3m springboard prelims.
Building on her form in 2017, she went on to deliver the performance of her career at the World Championships in Budapest, achieving a personal best of 289.65 points in the 3m springboard semifinals and progressing to the final, where she took 12th position.
“This gives me a lot of confidence and a sense of peace going into future interward national meets,” she said at the time.
“It also helps to know that I can compete alongside these girls and that my diving is going in the right direction.”
Boosted by her latest international result, Vincent took another step forin 2018, narrowly missing out on a medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Putting up a fight, she finished fourth in the 1m springboard final, less than six points short of a place on the podium. She also grabbed sixth spot in the 3m springboard event.
Last year, concentrating on the 1m springboard at the World Championships in Gwangju, she reached the final, taking 12th place.
And while the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed by a year, Vincent will be eager to continue spearheading her specialist code at the highest level.
If her progress thus far is anything to go by, South Africa’s best diver is still climbing the ladder to the top, and she is showing no signs of stopping any time soon.