The Price You Pay

11: "Hands First" Proclaims Young Diver Mila Klyne

• Natalie Cook • Season 2 • Episode 11

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Mila Klyne is an 11-years-old Australian junior diving prodigy whose rigorous training and unyielding commitment have already set her apart in the world of sports. 

In this episode, Mila shares her demanding daily schedule, from early morning strength sessions to intricate pool practices and dry land routines. 

We speak to the whole family to get that rounded approach -  younger sister Aria will delight you with her cuteness, Mum Melanie with her unconditional love and support , and Dad David with his emotional account of what it really takes to parent a champion!

We also explore Mila's incredible resilience after suffering a spinal stress fracture that sidelined her for over six months. Discover how her dedication to rehabilitation and newfound interests in cooking and painting helped her emerge stronger and more focused. 

Having been an athlete himself, Dad David opens up about the financial and emotional toll of nurturing a young athlete, addressing everything from costly training regimens to healthcare needs like orthokeratology treatment. The Kleins' journey emphasizes the immense dedication and resilience required from parents, who often work tirelessly to give their children the best opportunities. Feel the raw emotions as David and his wife reflect on their pride and the unrecognised hardships they face in their quest to see their children succeed.

Finally, learn about the Aussie Athlete Fund's efforts to support young talents like Mila, offering financial stability and educational opportunities to help them achieve their goals. Tune in to be inspired by Mila's journey and the unwavering support of her remarkable family.

Become a part of our athletes' success stories: Whether its a personal donation, a corporate partnership, a round of golf, or simply by spreading the word, your support has the power to uplift our athletes and inspire countless others!

Website: https://aussieathletefund.com/
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Thank you for tuning in to The Price You Pay podcast! To ensure you never miss an episode, hit that "FOLLOW" button and remember to leave us a like, review, rating or share the podcast with someone you know needs to hear the inspiring stories of athletes and their families giving their all for the dream!


Taliqua Clancy:

My name is Talika Clancy and my mob is the Willy Willy people. I am the first Indigenous beach volleyball player in the world to win an Olympic medal and I honour my ancestors in that endeavour. The host of this podcast, nat Cook, has been a guide for me and my family as I travelled the road to my sporting dreams. We wish to acknowledge the land on which the price you pay podcast is being recorded minijin country, commonly known as brisbane. We are inspired by the world's oldest living culture and seek wisdom from the people who came before us, the yaggara and durable people. We pay homage to the tradition of storytelling when we share athletes journeys and we extend our respect to all aboriginal and torres strait Islander peoples as the first Australians.

Nat Cook:

Welcome to season two of the Price you Pay podcast, devoted to bringing you the real stories of what it takes for young athletes and their families to realise their dreams. I'm your host, nat Cook, five-time Olympian and gold medalist. It's my mission to uncover the hidden costs, the sacrifices, and shine a light on the tenacity these athletes demonstrate on the road to their dreams. My vision is to create a sustainable funding model for our Aussie athletes. The time has come to go beyond just enjoying an athlete's performance to actually having their backs, both emotionally and financially. So while I'm off raising funds, doing what I do best, our pod partner, chatterbox, is talking to our athletes and their families. Over to you, sarah.

Sarah Maxwell:

Thanks, nat. These athletes and their families are in good hands. Today we get to hear from our youngest athlete on the podcast so far, 11-year-old diving sensation, mila Klein. It was only three years ago when she was talent identified for the sport of diving, due in large part to her two-time all-round Queensland and Australian club champion status in the sport of gymnastics. This is one talented young girl. In her very first Australian national diving competition she won the one meter, the three meter springboard as well as the platform events, making her the logical choice for female diver of the year and Australia's most outstanding talent.

Sarah Maxwell:

It must have come as quite a shock when a spinal stress fracture sidelined her for more than six months and her focus had to radically switch to rehabilitation. Now recovered, her persistence in training has never been more on point. She now gets up at 4 30 am for that little extra before training. She stays back for a longer stretch post-training and she's added more trampoline work to her schedule in her leisure time. Her work ethic has put her in good stead for her champion goals. Joining us in the conversation are Mila's dedicated and hard-working parents, david and Melanie, and for that added extra support, her sister, aria. This showcases how devoted her family is to the dream, and we can't wait to hear what it really takes to be that successful at only age 11. So welcome to the Price you Pay. We can't wait to hear what it really takes to be that successful at only age 11. So welcome to the Price you Pay. Podcast Klein family.

Mila Klyne:

Thank you for having us.

Sarah Maxwell:

Let's mention your brother with the perfect school record, who would have maybe not wanted to be on the call anyway, but we will mention that the Klein family is missing just one, and the cats are not on the call either. All right, Mila, you get the first question. I wanted to make sure we get to hear your voice straight away. In the intro I talked about a 4.30 am wake up and that's kind of startling right away. But it had me wondering what does a typical training week look like for an Australian junior diving champion like you?

Mila Klyne:

training week look like for an Australian junior diving champion like you. Well, it's very busy and I do strength one to two mornings on a Tuesday and Thursday, and they usually go for about an hour with my strength and conditioning coach, and then, after I transfer to the pool for entries and entries are usually simple dives where you just practice your technique and then, um, I train six days in the afternoon and I do dry land, which is I practice my bigger dives, before I go to the pool. Okay, I go to the pool and I do some days springboard and some days platform, and overall that's usually 20 hours okay, mila.

Sarah Maxwell:

So do you have a perfect school record, like your brother with all that training? Um, not really. You have another perfect record, though I I can hear all that, so did you say? You probably said this when does a trampoline part of it come in?

Mila Klyne:

um in dryland, where I practice my bigger dives got it.

Sarah Maxwell:

So see, now I get all excited when I hear all about your, your training week. So I have to ask a couple more things. So when you do that trampoline stuff, is it scarier to do a move on the trampoline or trying to do it into the water?

Mila Klyne:

um, when I'm probably into the water, yeah, I don't know if I'm gonna like go over or short, or like do something unexpected and then, but on the trampoline, um, it is because I don't want to land the wrong way and yeah but, usually the pool yeah, have you belly flopped before?

Sarah Maxwell:

yes, oh, we feel better now, all of us normal people. And does it like, do you get like a red belly? Like, does that happen? Do you get red back if you like land?

Mila Klyne:

um, correctly um, when I did I couldn't breathe. Well, I felt like I like, yeah, I couldn't breathe for a while, but then, um it just, it got better after, yeah good recovery.

Sarah Maxwell:

Okay, I like that. I mean, aria, all of this talk about the diving, but really I want to know how did your sister celebrate her 11th birthday and did you get invited to the party?

Aria:

Oh well, it was a busy morning and Mila had training that morning, and so we had to give her our presents before 5 am because Mila had to leave to get the training on time and we also had time in the afternoon to celebrate it a little more and we stayed up a little later then, so it was more like a home party.

Sarah Maxwell:

Okay, and how old are you, aria? I'm turning 10 this year, so will your birthday also be a 5 am start, or will yours be a little bit later?

Aria:

I'm not sure.

Sarah Maxwell:

Do you sleep in? What time do you get up? I wake up early, Do you as well? Oh, my goodness. Okay, well, I sense that maybe your house, Aria, at your house is everybody awake really early.

Aria:

Sometimes, some days, mom and Dad like to sleep in.

Sarah Maxwell:

Oh, yeah, we can tell Mom and and dad stories and they can't say anything. This is awesome, oh man. Well, I love that you're here supporting your sister. I know that it's really important for you to be on, and your parents made sure too, so we're going to ask a couple questions to mom now. So, melanie, I'd love to have you take us back to get a picture of this artistic gymnastic star that you assumed you had on your hands and were you surprised when she transitioned to the world of diving.

Mom Melanie:

Yeah, awesome. I think at the time Mila was performing so highly as a young gymnast, it was very difficult to see her as anything other than a gymnast. But knowing, I guess David and I knowing that Mila's always shown these incredible physical talents and aptitude, that we were aware that in her future that those talents could possibly translate to other sporting environments, and we would never want to shy away from supporting Mila in her curiosity and exploration of other things. So it wasn't a surprise when diving came on the table. And now, with this opportunity, which we fully supported, mila Wynn and she's, yeah again demonstrated such success in.

Sarah Maxwell:

So not a surprise, but yeah, yeah, I'm curious about the talent identified. Part of it.

Sarah Maxwell:

So why?

Sarah Maxwell:

so is it that she just loved all physical sport? Therefore, she was up for trying anything great question?

Mom Melanie:

um, I think so. Uh, the diving Queensland came to her her school and presented the school with an opportunity to for the students to try and I think, um, given that the skills required for diving are quite comparable to gymnastics, mila was able to showcase some of her talents in that environment and then, and was excited to do that. Um, she loves to show people what she can do. Um, and uh, again, yeah, came home, um, and uh, yeah, was so excited by what she'd done at school that it was, and I will say, um, you know, it was given her her gymnast and the commitment to be a gymnast, with the schedule that that's required for that. It was a little unnerving for David and I to think, oh, here's an opportunity, but if you know, if that translates, what's that gonna mean, given her love and her dream there? But, as I said, we fully support Mila. I saw negotiation skills at play with with me and trying to get her to this trial that we just, you know, of course, naturally support her and the rest has been history.

Sarah Maxwell:

So and as a, as a family, was it a big shift, like you obviously had to go to a new training area and new times and everything. What was that shift like for you guys?

Mom Melanie:

Yeah, so always having had a busy schedule given Miller's sporting commitments and obviously with the other two also sporting um, uh commitments, and obviously with the other two also um. So I think the level of business didn't change, but the environment did. So we've gone from a gym to being poolside, which was really cool, new and different and, um, something that we've really embraced.

Dad David:

So can I? Can I say what was really hard for a while, Sarah, when Mila was doing both.

Sarah Maxwell:

Oh, right, of course.

Dad David:

He doubled. There was a period for probably 12 months or longer where you know we were playing the game of which one do we go for which one? Mila was wondering which one do I go for, and so she was trying to literally train and compete in both, but then it could only last for so long.

Nat Cook:

Good point.

Sarah Maxwell:

Aria, did you go to all those? Did you go to all her trainings all the time? You did it?

Aria:

I went to some okay, just some.

Sarah Maxwell:

And when you go, do you want to do gymnastics or do you want to dive?

Mila Klyne:

um, at the time I was already doing gymnastics, but I started to think that I really wanted to do diving and can I?

Mila Klyne:

can I just say for Aria Aria is also um before Aria does. Diving now okay, okay and she's on a very similar program to what Mila is when she started. And um, aria is also coming from a background of being a state champion in gymnastics as well, so my goodness, everyone's a state champion in the house.

Sarah Maxwell:

what about dad? Does dad have a state champion in the house?

Sarah Maxwell:

What about dad. Does dad have a state champion? Anything I did a long time ago.

Sarah Maxwell:

He did. I was making fun of dad. In what?

Dad David:

I was a road cyclist. I had my time representing Australia for a few years as a road cyclist.

Sarah Maxwell:

Okay, well, I can't make fun of dad. Then he's got one.

Dad David:

I've already been eclipsed in medals by my daughter. So you know, and I'm fine with that- oh, oh.

Sarah Maxwell:

Now. I've got so many questions for dad about that. So pause that, dad, it's not your turn yet. Um, mila, I want to know about what it felt like for you. So here, here you are, this amazing gymnast. You've had success, you're winning things and now you're standing on the podium to receive all your medals wearing your Queensland track suit at the junior elite nationals. So did you experience like your dream starting to change in the moment from like gymnastics dreams to diving dreams?

Speaker 2:

um.

Sarah Maxwell:

Yes, I did um um on the spot, or did you kind of already have new diving dreams?

Speaker 2:

I already had new diving dreams when I started, and I just didn't think about Tim Jim too much after that so do you like winning medals, by the way?

Sarah Maxwell:

yeah, yeah, you like winning. Yeah, okay, that's cool and I didn't plan to ask you this. But but now I'm curious when you're standing on a podium and you're winning things, how do you stand? Like, do you stand? I'm trying to get like, yeah, how do you stand? How is it up there when you're getting the medals?

Speaker 2:

well, I usually stand like I used to in gymnastics. Yeah, oh yeah, and I usually haven't really changed that.

Sarah Maxwell:

Okay, nice and proud, sort of like with your shoulders back and your head up and all that kind of stuff very upright and proud yeah, I think it's a good lesson for a lot of people when I see like little awards at school and people kind of have their head down or they're shying away, so I think that's a. I know that you like to inspire people and I thought, oh, I think that's even important how you receive a medal or something that you've done really well. It's very inspiring for young kids to see that they can receive it the way you do, which is very cool. Okay, david, here we go. State champion David Klein.

Taliqua Clancy:

What has proved?

Sarah Maxwell:

most costly with Millis Sport. And how have you and your wife been able to afford the expenses? And you have two other kids as well. Well, who now we know, aria too is going for it. So how do you afford all that?

Dad David:

it's well. The simple answer is that we we can't um a lot of the time we have to ask. We ask for help where we can um. We have to make consequences that perhaps other families might not have to make. Having had a pretty strong background in sport and seeing my own parents struggle to give everything that they had for me and my sister, I kind of knew what I was in for. We knew what we were in for and I thank my own parents for how we've responded for this, because not every family makes the decision to make these sort of sacrifices, because they're immense, and the way millie and I treat this is is that we we give everything that we possibly can to our three kids to give them the best opportunity and that's often, um well, at our cost, um, uh, financially, um our health, um a lot of things.

Dad David:

There's huge sacrifices that go into this um, and if you ask what's the most costly, it's, it's, it's the combination of things. I mean. Training is always ongoing. Mila is high level QAS, ais, in parts training coaches. She has health and wellbeing people around her. It's the unforeseen cost for healthcare.

Dad David:

Something that listeners might not be aware of is that Mila's recently had well, she probably had for six to eight months now a new treatment for her eyes, so it's called orthokeratology. So before, when Mila was diving to start with, even at nationals, when she was having such success, she was essentially diving blind because she has pretty poor vision, and one of the things that Green and Gold athletes was able to help with was supporting the funding required to give her the treatment on her eyes, where she wears a plastic disc in her both eyes at night which corrects her eyes for perfect vision almost throughout the day. She has to wear them every night. That's. Those sorts of costs come up and it's hard to say no, um too, so, uh, all those sorts of costs.

Dad David:

I mean that's beyond the competitions domestically, the training camps, interstate, um, it goes on. It's a cumulative thing and, um, the difficult thing as a, as a parent, is you have a child who does very well at something and you want to support them in every way possible, but you've also got, in our case, two other children, um, and so we're trying to be as fair and as even as possible and I'm going to be realistic it's not always possible. There's a limit. I tallied up the hours that we do as a family for sport a week and it's about 45 hours.

Sarah Maxwell:

Oh my gosh, it's like another job.

Dad David:

It's another job and you know, as I said, we can't afford it all the time and Millie and I work full time. We start early with the kids and we finish late with the kids and it usually means catching up on the weekend, so it's a whole family thing. So when the good times are good, it's great. During hard times, like Mila's injury, there's incredible pain because of how much has been given up and there's an unknown to it. So we don't always afford it, but we do the best we can.

Sarah Maxwell:

Wow, and Mum tell me what the emotion is for you when David's sharing that about the sacrifices.

Mom Melanie:

I think it's just the acknowledgement of exactly that the sacrifice. Yeah, it's good for your kids to see that because, yeah, yeah, the hardship, the challenge, you know, yeah, I think you know we've touched on it today the early mornings, it's, it is, it's, it's surviving but trying to thrive on minimal sleep.

Sarah Maxwell:

you know, as parents, keeping this system in play for the benefit of our awesome children and it really helps other parents to know that they're all the ones making those huge sacrifices. Really love hearing and seeing that emotion that you're showing because they can relate and I think it's a good point. You know, hearing David say it, you probably you don't wake up at 430 and talk about your sacrifices, you just do it and you're on this treadmill right Like go, go, go, go, go, go, go, and then you sit down for a second and then you, it kind of hits you and no, no one sees it, sarah, other than those very close around you.

Dad David:

They only, they only know about the the 0.01 percent of the time when there's a good result or something good's happening. They don't. They don't know the pain, the hardship, the early late hours that you know people, unless it's only other parents and kids and other athletes that are in that environment that understand that, and so that's the hard thing as well when you're trying to express that to people around you and yet we're so passionate about highlighting the story and and the shifting that narrative.

Sarah Maxwell:

Even when people are going to be watching the Paris Olympics or they're going to watch diving events, you know, know, when Mila's on the podium, it's like we want them to feel the whole weight of it. You know, and that's why I think it's great for the kids to know, and I sense that Mila does know a lot of it, which is why she wants to help other people and inspire. But again, like we got to talk about it, like you are, so thank you for sharing. So you know authentically, like that I also, mila, I want to know a little bit about your mentor. I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right. Is it Cassiel? How do you say that? Cassiel Rousseau, cassiel Rousseau? Is that a French name? It's a different.

Dad David:

It is actually. Yeah, I'd hate to get that wrong for his sake, but I'm thinking.

Sarah Maxwell:

Yeah Well, I'm from a French part of Canada, so I know the last name is French, but I didn't recognize the beginning. So tell me what inspires you so much about him?

Speaker 2:

Well, it's not just his diving, it is his personality, and I really like his positive energy. And then, um, what inspires me so much about him is, um, well, his diving. He, um, he like he doesn't put the pressure on himself and he just, he doesn't think too much about it okay that's a good, that's a good one, that's a good trick, something, so how do you not think about something?

Speaker 2:

um, I just um focus on myself and what I need to do, okay because that's what he does yeah, awesome has he always been there in your training since the beginning um, yes, he has been, I think um, but I usually train with him most days of the week right, that's awesome.

Sarah Maxwell:

Um so, mom, I'm curious when you're watching your daughter. So the spinal stress fracture we mentioned that injury, what is it like? You know she's now having time off or she's in rehab mode. What did you see in her? That you hadn't seen before that's such a great question.

Mom Melanie:

Um, it was um. I think yeah it was challenging from the family, like in terms of um that event occurring. Dave and I had all this emotion. As parents, you naturally have this fear and uncertainty and ambivalence that you have to work through. But what was so?

Mom Melanie:

What is so awesome about Mila? She's so inspiring and she inspired me in her um, in her handling of it, where I saw her um honestly apply the things that I think enabled her success her characteristics, her commitment, her dedication literally just translate from what she would apply in her diving schedule and daily routine to then her rehabilitation goals. So I recall her sitting down with the awesome back specialist at the time who had to relay to Mila very difficult, in a very difficult way but in a very honest way. Mil, mila, if you run or jump for the next 12 weeks it is highly possible that you may not dive in your future, and I saw my 10-year-old digest that information in a really mature way, in acknowledging what that could mean for her but not detracting her from her ultimate goals of, I guess, representing the green and gold in future as a diver at the Olympics at some point in time. And she just she stayed focused on her goal and went okay.

Mom Melanie:

This requires me to rehabilitate, which means nourishing my body. There's a silver lining here for me to shift my focus to some other things that maybe I haven't had as much time to do. She loves cooking, she's painting, and so she just really uses time and it's actually resulted in her, I believe, being amazingly nourished, being very. Her overall wellbeing seems to be really, really good. So she just used the time to realign her focus and I think she's come back stronger for it. And yeah, it was just really inspiring to see her resiliency and how she handled that. Really, I think, you know, something she'd never had to experience before and so young.

Sarah Maxwell:

Yeah, like I think it's almost like a rite of passage, like knowing and in a way, some people don't make it through it, but but yeah, hearing that is really exciting, and sometimes you don't know the gifts you're getting, because they don't feel like gifts at certain times, but like the silver lining that you mentioned. Um, aria, first of all, you're doing really well sitting there. I mean, I'm not sure my daughter would do it as well as you are.

Sarah Maxwell:

Um, what do you say? Okay, so you meet someone that doesn't. They're a new person in your life and they're young and they don't know you have a sister. How do you describe your sister to someone like that?

Speaker 2:

Brave and confident. Okay, and what tell me why you think she's brave?

Sarah Maxwell:

Well, she's very focused and yeah, and do you use some of that in your diving? Do you learn from her? Yes, well, that's so cool. See, you're already inspiring people just in your own house, milla. And let me just piggyback on that, mila, about your desire to be the voice of diving in your community, and you want to inspire people. Why is it important to you?

Speaker 2:

Well, because well, some people, like younger divers, like me, might not believe in themselves and might compare themselves to others and not do their best.

Sarah Maxwell:

Okay, love that, and so you want to be that person that can help them.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I want to inspire younger people.

Sarah Maxwell:

Awesome, help them. Yeah, I want to inspire younger people. Awesome. Have you ever spoken in front of other divers before or other people, about diving um?

Speaker 2:

I don't think so. Okay, uh, school, um, that counts, that's big, uh. Yes, I have spoken a little bit about what I achieved at nationals.

Sarah Maxwell:

I love that. Okay, well, you're doing really well right now, by the way, so now you can say you've been on a podcast, so that's that's exciting. I want to ask, now that I know about dad's sporting background, I'm curious what is it about you having been an athlete that's helping you navigate, parenting Both of these children in particular? I don't know if brother does sport, but he's at school, whatever, but he's at school, whatever he does he?

Dad David:

does. I think, more than anything it probably gives me an understanding of what it takes. So I'm pretty grounded as a parent, I don't as well as Mila and the others, but as well as Mila has done it step by step. Um, and you know, some of these things take a long time to get to a certain point and anything can happen in sport. I mean, as Mila's talking about a stress fracture, massive, massive. That was straight after the nationals, after she won everything, and massive high to massive low, and you just don't know what's next in sport.

Dad David:

So we don't we don't think as much as Mila has dreams and you know we share those dreams for her. We're realistic because we don't want to set hopes that are so high that she gets upset or something doesn't work out. We want her to be balanced, um, with her focus, um. But I think giving what I can give to mila is give her an understanding of the landscape of sport, the hard bits, the bits that can be a bit political, let's be honest, there's that as well, um, and dealing with pressures and stress. But what I've I I learn as well, because what I think, what I think is how I dealt with things is not how Mila deals with things and I have to be honest, mila deals with pressure and stress better than I ever did well said yeah yeah yeah, really, I get it.

Sarah Maxwell:

Our kids, we, I often say we get raised up by them. You know and? And yet we have yeah, I get it. That was beautifully said, very balanced answer, because even injury is such a great teacher around attachment, like you think it's all about all your medals, and then you're sidelined, you're flat on your back or whatever, and so, um, I love the support, the grounded nature of what you guys do and I, I just wanted to give Mila the last word. I don't think she needs it, but I think I want to give it to her, in that when you go to bed at night, mila, you're probably super tired, but when you start, you visualize and you dream of things. What do you dream of?

Speaker 2:

um. Well, I dream of being the best driver in the world and um and achieving that at the um world championships and Olympics.

Sarah Maxwell:

And what does it look like to be the best in the world? How do you visualize that?

Speaker 2:

that, um well, at the time scary and really nervous.

Sarah Maxwell:

But then, after I've done it, like really proud and relieved oh love it so, so honest, just like your parents have been and your sister, I really want to thank you as a family. Um, it was really important to me that everyone come on and get to share, because we get a better sense of you guys. I really appreciate the emotion. I think that just makes it so much more relatable and real and even for parents who aren't on the journey yet, it's like nice to see what it can look like all the highs and the lows, just the realness of it. So thank you so much. I've really enjoyed hearing from you and Mila and Aria. You did really well. You sat there, you did not cough, I mean you just you nailed it. So thank you.

Dad David:

Thank you, Sarah.

Nat Cook:

Thank you for joining us on another episode of the Price you Pay podcast.

Nat Cook:

We hope we have inspired you with this insider's look of the challenges faced by aspiring athletes, the highs and lows of playing sport at such an elite level and what's possible when you are so devoted to your craft.

Nat Cook:

It's our mission at Aussie Athlete Fund to create a sustainable funding model to support our athletes for both their financial well-being and the education of their own athlete economy. To be part of the journey, please visit our website at aussieathletefundcom and choose how you would like to be involved, whether it's a corporate partnership, teaming up with an athlete in the million dollar challenge, or even hosting your own event to raise funds, or maybe even a game of golf. Choose your own adventure. If you know someone who would benefit from listening to this episode or this show, please send it to them now and before you go. Pressing the follow button on our show makes a massive difference. Rating us for Season 2 means more people get to hear these stories, which helps us have a much wider impact. Join us next time for more captivating stories of triumph and resilience on the next episode of season two of the price you pay.

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Natalie Cook

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Sarah Maxwell

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