Cassiel Rousseau has always had Olympic blood running through his veins.

The grandson of French cyclist Michel Rousseau, who won gold in the men's sprint at Melbourne’s 1956 Olympics, Cassiel started out as an acrobatic gymnast before he began diving in 2017, and he’s carried that acrobatic style into his diving today.

By 2020 he was competing in the Tokyo Olympics (he finished 8th), and he claimed gold in the men's 10m platform World Championships event in 2023, creating history for the Australian diving team by becoming the first Australian men's 10m platform world champion.

He heads into his second Olympics, in Paris, adorned with tattoos - one for every country he’s been to.

The university student was also recently named World Aquatics Diving Athlete of the Year for 2023. 

Cassiel sits down with former Australian water polo player and Olympian Rowie Webster to chat about how he got into diving, how he deals with his fear of heights and what it takes to become an elite athlete.