Diving WA congratulates two outstanding divers for being shortlisted for major WA sporting awards which will be announced at Optus Stadium on February 8.

Our world champion 1m springboard diver Maddison Keeney is a finalist in The West Australian RAC Sports Star of the Year award while rising star Nikita Hains is one of six finalists in the Railtrain Junior Sport Star Award.

This year the RAC WA Sports Star awards will be held in the Riverview Rooms at Optus Stadium before an anticipated crowd of more than 500 people.

At the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Maddison produced a brilliant final dive to beat Russia’s Nadezhda Bazhina to the women's one-metre springboard title, Australia’s first gold medal in the event since 2003.

Bazhina had taken the lead from Keeney going into the final round but Maddison finished with a flourish for a total of 314.95 points, beating the Russian by 10.25, to claim her first world championships gold medal.

Seventeen year-old Nikita, a 10m platform diver and coached by three-time Olympian Mathew Helm, tasted success at various FINA grand prixs and the recent Commonwealth Games trials in December where she finished second in the 10m synchro event and was fourth in the individual event. Previously, Nikita was one of few Australians to take home a medal (a bronze) from the Dresden International Youth Diving Championships.

Celebrating its 61^th anniversary, the Sports Star awards night, with nominations coming from members of the WA Sports Federation, is steeped in history,

First won by former Australian hockey captain Morna Pearce in 1956 when the award was known as the Sportsman of the Year, household names such as Herb Elliott, Barry Cable, Margaret Court, Dennis Lillee, Graham Marsh, Ric Charlesworth, Neil Brooks, Peter Matera, Rechelle Hawkes, Ryan Bailey, Steve Hooker and Cam Meyer are all members of a select group that numbers 73. Golfer Curtis Luck was the successful athlete last year.

While much attention focuses on the major award, The West Australian RAC Sports Star, there are a number of other awards presented on the night – Railtrain Junior Sports Star, Channel 7 Perth Team of the Year, KPMG Coach of the Year, Community TAB Official of the Year, and the RAC Insurance Beyond Sport - John Gilmour Medal.