Sinead Diver

BIOGRAPHY

Hailing from Mayo, Ireland, mother of two, Sinead Diver is one of Australia's most successful recent marathoners at the international level. In her Olympic debut in Tokyo, she placed an outstanding 10th, the highest placed Australian woman in the event at the Olympics since Lisa Ondieki won silver in 1988 – 33 years ago. A year later she broke the 16-year-old Australian marathon record. Her pathway to the top has been unlike any other on the current Australian Athletics Team.

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Born in Ireland, Sinead Diver enjoyed climbing cliffs and swimming as a child. She attended a conservative Catholic school in the small Irish town of Belmullet where academics were the priority and where they didn’t encourage girls to participate in athletics, aside from playing a little basketball at lunch. Because of her love of sports, she went on to study physical education and Irish teaching at the University of Limerick, followed by post-grad study in computing, an industry she has worked in ever since.

After initially coming to Australia on a working-holiday visa in 2002, she emigrated to Australia in her mid-20s.
In 2010, aged 33, she joined her sister Gráinne’s work team for a Corporate Cup event. Keen to get fit post pregnancy she decided to join in. One of the people on the team was surprised with how well she ran and suggested she join a recreational running group called Crosbie Crew. It is here that she met Tim Crosbie who would be her first coach.
Initially her success was over shorter distances, but she knew she was better at longer distances and was intrigued by the marathon. After the birth of her second son, Dara, in 2013, Diver decided to make her marathon debut in Melbourne in 2014, where she ran 2:34.15, placing second. “After my first one, I knew that was the distance for me,” said Diver.

The time qualified Diver for the Irish team for the 2015 World Championships, but shortly after this Athletics Ireland toughened their standard, making her time now outside the standard. Australia were more accommodating and selected her for the world championships, where in the stifling heat of Beijing she made her international debut placing a magnificent 21st.

In 2017 she smashed her PBs including a 2:31.37 marathon in Nagoya, followed by placing 20th in the London World Championships.
Over two years in 2018 and 2019, Diver compiled a breath-taking series of performances from 5000m to marathon as she destroyed her personal bests, matched it with the world’s best and leapt up the Australian all-time list.
She brought her 5000m PB down to 15:23 and was third in the national title. At 10,000m she won Zatopek and the Oceania titles, then placed 14th at the 2019 world championships setting PBs along the way highlighted by Doha’s time of 31:25.49 – fifth fastest Australian ever. Over the half-marathon she won the 2018 national title and clocked two sub-69 minute times in Japan reaching a best of 68:50.
Her best work was in the marathon. She set two personal bests 2:25.19 in Melbourne, then 2:24.11 in London, elevating her to number three Australian all-time. She placed seventh in London, then fifth in New York, against world class fields.

In October 2020, she endured the challenge of travelling during COVID, placing eighth in the London Marathon with 2:27.07. In 2021 She made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games, placing 10th in the marathon. 
Selected for her sixth Australian team, Sinead competed in the marathon at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games where she placed 5th in a time of 2:31.06. Later in the year, she headed to Valencia in Spain, where at her third attempt she broke the Australian marathon record by 62 seconds, clocking a time of 2:21.34 minutes. It lowered the record set by Benita Willis in 2006 – 16 years prior.
“I have wanted this for so long and I wasn’t sure if I was good enough to get it. I’ve had a few goes at it now, this was my third crack at it and every time I line up, it takes a lot. Things have to really fall into place so I’m beyond delighted that it’s happened,” she said.

“Benita (Willis) is Australia’s best runner of all time so it’s an honour to now have this record. I couldn’t be prouder today.”

She had received a boost on the start line when she was informed that training partner Brett Robinson had broken the Australian men’s marathon record in Japan.
“It’s really special to get this record on the same day as Brett,” Sinead said.

In 2023 she won the Australian marathon title held in conjunction with the Sydney Marathon. On a hilly course in oppressively warm marathon running conditions, she clocked 2:31.27.

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When selected for the Tokyo Olympics at age 44, Diver becomes the oldest Australia ever to compete in athletics at the Olympics.
“I find it extremely frustrating that a lot of the media attention I get is mainly focused on my age,” said Diver.
“I know, in some ways, it’s meant to be complimentary. Not a lot of athletes continue to find success in their 40s but I’ve been running for a relatively short period of time, so it’s a very different scenario for me. Succeeding at any age is all about your mindset. I’m still really motivated and determined because I haven’t been doing it for that long. My age isn’t an issue with people I train with. They’re all a lot younger than me but they show me the same respect as anyone else in the group.”

Biggest influence…..”Probably my coach Nic Bideau - he's opened up a lot of opportunities for me in racing and training. With his help I get to race overseas a lot more and get invited to important races. I also started training with his squad in Melbourne in 2018 and this has had a significant impact on my career. I love training with this group and I've improved a lot since I joined them.”.....Challenge of the marathon…..”It’s as much a mental game as physical and you must give it everything to succeed. Even then, there are no guarantees. You can be the fittest you’ve ever been, but there are so many factors that impact the outcome, often your time doesn’t reflect this. This is why I both love and hate the marathon. The elation that you feel when it all comes together after months of preparation is magical. But if it doesn’t go to plan, it can be devastating. Without hesitation, I can say that I’ve learned something new from every marathon. It’s a race like no other.”… Advice to your younger self: Be curious, ask more questions…Education: Uni of Limerick Bachelor of Science - BS, Physical Education & Irish Teaching Sep 1994 - Jun 1998; Grad Dip, Computing 1998 – 1999… Occupation:  Senior Analyst Engineer with NAB (National Australia Bank). Worked for NAB for 18 years. After completing her teaching degree at 21, she considered herself too you to teach, returned to university to study computing.

Sinead’s marathon career (15 completed):
17/9/2023    Sydney Marathon 8th 2:31:27
4/12/2022    Valencia Marathon 12th 2:21:34    
30/07/2022    Commonwealth Games    5th 2:31:06    
13/03/2022    Nagoya Women's Marathon DNF    
03/10/2021    London Marathon 32nd    2:27:16      
07/08/2021    Olympica Games, Tokyo 10th 2:31:14      
04/10/2020    London Marathon 8th 2:27.07 
08/03/2020    Nagoya Marathon DNF       
03/11/2019    New York City Marathon 43rd 2:26:23    
28/04/2019    London Marathon 7th 2:24:11    
14/10/2018    Melbourne Marathon 8th 2:25:19       
12/11/2017    Saitama International Marathon     7th 2:33:00       
06/08/2017    World Championships Marathon 20th 2:33:26     
12/03/2017    Nagoya Women's Marathon 10th 2:31:37      
16/10/2016    Melbourne Marathon 33rd 2:41:14    
30/08/2015    World Championships Marathon 21st 2:36:38    
12/10/2014    Melbourne Marathon 21st 2:34:13

@ 6 June 2024 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au