Kiwi diver Liam Stone almost said goodbye to the sport he's dedicated 18 years of his life to, after suffering a serious back injury.
Stone, 25, has been selected to represent New Zealand at the world championships in Hungary next month, before what he hopes will be a third Commonwealth Games.
He has rediscovered his love for diving.
"I feel like a little kid again… you know, getting back into the pool," he said.
Those feelings couldn't have been more different two years ago, after breaking his foot, then injuring his back at the gym.
"At that time, I was looking at possibly having a spinal fusion and, for me, it was getting back to daily life painfree.
"Diving wasn't even on my radar."
Stone was put on a waiting list for surgery on a herniated disk, which turned out to be a good thing.
"Luckily, I couldn't get the surgery right away, because it started to feel a little bit better and made progress, so I continued with that rehab and now here I am."
Stone is determined to better his performances from the Gold Coast Commonwealth under the watchful eye of a new coach.
"Liam is a big player," said coach Cordelia Norris. "I think he'll be a big player at the Games, so I really think he will be in contention."
Stone tends to agree: "The way I'm diving and the way my syncro partner Anton is diving, we'll definitely have our eyes on the medals."
And doing it all with a smile on his face.
