Team Ireland’s second diver was in action this morning as Tanya Watson took to the Tokyo Aquatic centre for the preliminary round
This was Watson’s debut at an Olympics Games at the age of 19. She finished seventh in the European Senior Championships so came with hopes of qualifying for the semi-final.
She took part in the women’s 10m platform dive preliminary rounds. The top 18 scoring athletes after five dives would make the next round tomorrow.
Earlier this week, Ireland’s Oliver Dingley took to the diving pool, Watson will want to improve on his disappointing finish.
To read more about Ireland in the Tokyo diving competition, click here.
History was made this morning when Tanya Watson took to the 10m Platform as Team Ireland's first ever female Olympic diver
Let’s go Tanya 💪💪@TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/QUlyjkNIm0
— Sport Ireland (@sportireland) August 4, 2021
Women’s 10m Platform – Preliminary Round
Watson was the third woman to take the platform. She began her set with a Back two and a half somersault, one and a half twist. She slightly over rotated which gave her a slightly bigger splash on entry than she would have wanted.
With a difficulty of 3.2 it was a tough first dive but paid off with her scoring 62.40, putting her joint 13th.
Next up she went for one of her easier dives, a Forward three and a half somersault. Other than the slightly big splash, she performed the 3.0 difficulty dive very well.
After round two the added score of 57.00, she was now in 14th.
Her next dive was a difficulty 2.9, Back two and half somersault. Holding a good pike position she only scored a 52.20, now she was placing 16th.
With two dives left, she attempted an Inward two and a half somersault. A clean tuck and good entry, she scored a well needed 60.20.
With just a single round left, Watson gave herself a great chance of qualifying still in 16th with 15 points to spare.
Watson finished with an Inward three and a half somersault with a 3.2 difficulty degree. Although the dive was not perfect, a score of 57.60 was enough to see the Irish woman through in 16th place with a total of 289.40 points.
19-year-old Tanya Watson opens her Tokyo 2020 competition with a score of 62.40 for her first of five dives – Back 2½ Somersaults 1½ Twists.
One of Tanya's hardest dives today 💪#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 @divertanya
@swimireland pic.twitter.com/ljyv4ca88v— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 4, 2021
The preliminary round has showed that this competition is going to be contested between China’s Hongchan Quan and Yuxi Chen, and USA’s Delaney Schnell who blitzed the scoreboard.
The semi-final will take place at 02:00 tomorrow morning with the top 12 divers qualifying for the final.
