MANILA -- Filipino-Australian cliff diver Xantheia Pennisi will not lack support when she competes in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series next week in El Nido, Palawan.

The 26-year-old Pennisi is one of 12 female divers who will leap from a 21-meter platform and into the waters below, performing acrobatic twists and turns along the way. 

Having placed seventh in the 2019 edition of the event in El NIdo, Pennisi wants to do better this time around and is counting on her family to push her forward.

"It's really good to see my family and have the first competition here. I'm so excited," Pennisi told ABS-CBN News Tuesday at the New Clark City Aquatic Center, where Red Bull held the media day for the Cliff Diving World Series.

READ: Elite divers excited for El Nido return in cliff diving championship

Pennisi reunited with her family at the facility and they watched as she performed a few dives along with Ukraine's Oleksiy Prygorov, one of the 12 men who will compete in the Red Bull event. The two elite divers also gave pointers to members of the Philippine national diving team. 

Pennisi will first head to China to train before flying to El Nido next week, where she will once again meet up with her family. The cliff diver traces her roots to Tarlac through her mother.

"They're going to watch the little dives here and come to the competition next week. So it's really special to me. They're the reason why I dive. I'm doing it for my family," she said.

Pennisi initially did gymnastics before learning how to dive, first competing in the 10-meter springboard events.

"And then, I discovered cliff diving," she recalled, "And this is really my true passion."

Even after many years as a competitor, Pennisi admits that she still has a fear of heights -- "It terrifies me" -- but has worked rigorously to improve her mindset. She also banks on her background as a gymnast to give her an edge in cliff diving.

"It's lots of practice and lots of visualizations," she said. "will practice just closing my eyes and pretending I'm doing the dive. Also, lots of repetition in the pool.  And I've worked with sports psychologists to understand my body and my fears and how to manage them as well."

El Nido will host the opening leg of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series from April 11-13, after which the competition will head to Polignano A Mare in Italy on June 28 to 29; Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina on September 5 to 6; and Boston in the USA on September 19 to 20.