Dubai: Samantha Mills, one of Australia’s top divers, is all primed to be on the podium when the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games are held from August 5-21.

At the 2013 Summer Universiade, Mills won the gold medal in the women’s 1m diving. She then teamed up with Esther Qin to win silver in the women’s 3m synchro event. A year later, Mills won the women’s 3m at the Australian Diving Championships.

However, it was at last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia that she made a strong statement as she teamed up with Qin to take the bronze medal in the women’s 3m synchro.

The Australian pair, however, stumbled for form at the second leg of the Fina/NVC Diving World Series 2016. “I have been happy doing what we have done over the last one year. I think we have got better and better. This one was a bit of a minor setback here, but it is nothing so serious that we’ve got to go back to the drawing board or something like that. It happens, and it rather happen now than later on in the year,” Mills told Gulf News.

“From now on, it is going to be one step at a time for us as there are a lot of competitions coming up and I would like to do my best. I don’t want to look too far ahead,” added Mills, who celebrates her 24th birthday next Wednesday (March 23).

Mills’s versatility in sport is seen by the fact that she started off as a gymnast all through her growing up years right up to her teens. She then briefly took up pole vaulting, before making a final switch to diving. That has fetched her a scholarship under coach Michel Larouche at the prestigious South Australian Institute of Sport.

“It was weird at first to make the switch, but gymnastics helped a lot I guess especially as it is an aerial sport. But now, come to think of it, it was actually quite an easy transition for me. The flexibility and being able to have tight legs and tight muscles helps a lot when you make the entry into the water. Pole Vaulting I don’t helped so much, but I’m sure it has something to do with the way I have evolved today,” Mills recalled.

“Esther and I have done pretty well over the past one year or so, and if we train well I can’t see why we shouldn’t be up there in the top three in Rio. All these competitions now are like the testers and I am sure we are getting there slowly, but surely,” Mills said.