She qualified for two Olympic games. Now, Maria Papworth works in a neuroscience lab at Stanford.

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Maria Papworth began diving at eight years old in Croydon, England. At 14, she entered the world stage in the three-meter springboard representing Great Britain – a diving powerhouse that produced international legends like Tom Daley and Matty Lee. She pushed her body for years, enduring injury and pain, and found her Olympic dreams within reach twice. After a last attempt to get to the Paris Olympics 2024, Papworth eventually graduated in 2025 from Stanford University with a BA in Psychology. At Stanford, where she had been studying and competing since 2021, she found a new passion in neuroscience. She was inspired to go into the field because she was intrigued by the mental challenges her elite-level diving journey presented. Today, Papworth is a research assistant in the neurology department at Stanford.

Watch the video to hear more about Papworth’s journey.

Author

  • Cate Peters ('27) is studying communication, film, and media studies at Stanford University. She started her journalism career in high school contributing to DyeStat and RunnerSpace, a national running news website. During the school year, she is a sports desk editor at The Stanford Daily. Last summer, Cate was a reporting intern at SFGATE. She is also a D1 athlete on Stanford’s track and field team and a San Francisco Bay Area native.

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