Diving: High-flyer leaps into Rio picture

Young Kiwi diver Liam Stone is on the fringe of selection for the Rio Olympics. Photo / Greg Bowker

Kiwi diver has had a stellar 12 months, but he now faces biggest test to make Olympic dreams a reality

Triathlete Andrea Hewitt is the first, but there's a pile of others whose names could now be pencilled in to compete at next year's Rio Olympics.

Then there are those who are right on the fringe and hoping consistent performance at a sufficiently high standard will earn them selection.

Count young diver Liam Stone in that category.

The 18-year-old Aucklander has taken the overseas route to proving he should be leaping off the 3m springboard in Rio.

Rather than try to win selection from a New Zealand base, Stone is in the first year of study at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. And while kinesiology - or the study of human movement - might be an important part in his future, right now diving is occupying a large part of his thinking.

The idea of heading Stateside came initially from a former coach and he talked to several universities, visited Auburn and Tennessee, liked the latter and was accepted at the start of this year.

"I'm really enjoying the balance of school and diving," Stone said.

"The policy is you have to be at certain grades. If you're not, you can't be eligible to compete and if you're starting to look like you're falling behind they'll make sure you get back in line."

Stone competed at last year's Glasgow Commonwealth Games, finishing seventh in the 1m springboard and 14th on the 3m springboard, but more relevantly he placed 21st on the 3m platform - setting a national record in the process - and 24th on 1m at this year's world championships in Kazan, Russia. The 3m is the only one of the two contested at the Olympics and Stone put up his personal best numbers.

Using the New Zealand Olympic Committee criteria, that an athlete must have the ability to make the top 16 - in diving the top 18 make the semifinals - with potential for top eight in Tokyo in 2020, Stone has indicated he's in the frame.

The top 12 finishers in Kazan won automatic spots for Rio.

Two key events lie ahead, the Oceania championships in Melbourne in December, then a World Cup meet in Rio in February, which doubles as the test event for the Olympic meeting.

Win the Oceania title and Stone should be virtually packing his bags, but it's going to be difficult, given the quality of Australia's leading divers. Depending on who turns up to compete in the Rio test event, a strong showing there could be the easier route.

Stone has a world ranking of 28. Two divers per country are allowed at the Olympics. If those calculations were applied now, Stone would be up to No25. Consider he was ranked 50th a year ago and you get an idea of his progress.

He's likely to have a couple of grands prix in the first half of next year, but Melbourne and Rio are the biggies.

Stone is competing in the inter-collegiate team at UT, and is coached by Dave Parrington, a former Olympic diver and coach, originally from Zimbabwe. He has made an impact in his first year. He was selected South Eastern Conference Freshman Diver of the Year and named in the All-SEC first team.

Stone is pleased with his development.

"I've been working a lot on strength and technique," Stone said. "That's basically the gist of a lot of sports. I'm working on things like jumping higher and spinning faster. All aspects have improved and I definitely feel like it's all going on the right track."

So what does his gut tell him?

"If I keep improving and keep climbing as I have been, get three or four more places up [the rankings] then it's definitely possible. But it all comes down to those two meets. I've got my head set that I want to go."