´óÏó´«Ã½

Jenny Cowen is a 19-year-old diver who won bronze and silver medals at the 2009 Australian Youth Olympics. Jenny was Aisling Loftus's (pictured, who plays Lindsey), diving double in Dive and performed every twist and tuck in the drama.

Jenny started diving at the age of eight and has won numerous diving awards since then. Here, she talks about her intensive training and how her sights are set on the London 2012 Olympics.

How did you get into diving?

"I got into diving because of my older brother, Matthew. He had seen people diving and decided he wanted to give it a go – I followed in his footsteps, really. He is 21 now and works in China doing show diving."

What's your typical training routine?

"I normally train between 8.00–10.30am every weekday morning. I am currently at University, so if I have lectures I'll go off to those and then sometimes train between 1.30-4pm, depending on my Uni timetable. I then train all day Saturday – Sunday is my rest day.

"My coach is Adrian Hinchliffe – who trained Tandi Gerrard (a competitor in the Beijing Olympics in 2008) – he always likes me to do as much training as I can."

Do you mind having such a demanding schedule?

"No, not really. It gets hard sometimes as I have to travel an hour to get to training. It means you lose a lot of your social time but I really enjoy it and it's something I've done for such a long time now."

What's a typical training session for you?

"I start by doing an hour and a quarter on what we call 'dry land'. I go to the gym, do the treadmill and the bikes for about 20–30 minutes and then an hour of conditioning – sit-ups, press-ups and then somersaulting from a standing position onto mats. After that, I'll do an hour and a quarter of diving in the pool."

What do you like about diving?

"I really like the people and I enjoy working hard. I am a determined person and, once you've been doing something so long, you want to keep going and to be the best you can. It's a good way to keep fit, too."

Tell us about some of the diving awards you've won

"The achievement I am most proud of was wining gold at the 2008 Arena Diving Champion's Cup – I was a junior and it was a senior competition. I won gold for synchronised diving, where you dive in unison with a partner."

How did you get involved with the drama, Dive?

"I was at a competition and I was told the Dive production team were looking for someone to do the diving in the drama and I thought it sounded good.

"I was invited to London for the casting and a few other girls were there, along with Aisling (who plays Lindsey.) I stood next to Aisling – we looked similar and had similar statistics – and I got the job. I did have to dye my hair brown, though, because I am blonde."

What did you enjoy most about working on Dive?

"The whole experience was fantastic – I'd never done anything like that and I realised how much hard work goes into filming. I'd love to do that again. It has inspired me so much I've looked into becoming a stunt woman."

Are your sights set on the 2012 Olympics?

"My goal is to get to the 2012 Olympics. Training is going well at the moment, although I am currently on a summer break. There are qualifying competitions coming up, which are demanding because you have to be consistently good in every competition to make sure you keep getting through."