Team Ireland diver Tanya Watson qualified for the Tokyo 2020 10m Platform Semi-Final on Wednesday morning.
Watson is the first female diver to represent Team Ireland at an Olympic Games.
The 19-year-old faced 29 of the world’s best in the preliminaries on Wednesday morning but dived well throughout the round to score a total of 289.40 points across her five dives, which saw her finish 16th overall.
Watson posted scores around the 60 mark with each of her dives and was rewarded with a semi-final position for her work.
Her first dive, a back two-and-a-half somersault, earned the diver her highest marks with a score of 62.40.
The divers with the top 18 scores in this round progress to Thursday morning’s semi-finals, and the top 12 scorers in those semi-finals will compete for the Olympic medals in the Final later that day.
Watson will have the opportunity to be one of those 12 in her first appearance at the Olympic Games.
“I feel great, and just excited to go out there again and do my dives and get through again tomorrow,” Watson said.
“My first dive was pretty good for me, everything was consistent, so all my dives were on the head. My plan into the semi-finals is that I personally want to enjoy it again.
“I did really good diving today, so I’m really excited to find that again. Also tomorrow, I want to work on my entries into the water.”
Damian Ball, National Head Coach for Diving, was impressed with Tanya’s performance and praised her consistency.
“Consistency is key in these moments and that’s exactly what Tanya showed today, she competed with a cool head with solid dives,” Ball exclaimed.
“Today’s score was 18 points higher than the score Tanya achieved to qualify for the Olympic Games. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s semi-final and will fight for a spot in the finals .”
The semi-finals begin at 2 am Irish time at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
