Although the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup Selection Trials were cut short due to a state mandated lockdown, the Brisbane Aquatic Centre hosted two days of spectacular diving.

In the first national level event in more than a year, divers from across the country displayed a solid return to form as they competed for a ticket to April’s FINA Diving World Cup.

The team selected in the coming days will be tasked with securing Australia’s remaining Olympic quota positions in the brand new Tokyo Aquatic Centre.

The first day of competition in Brisbane saw 2019 National Champions Domonic Bedggood and Declan Stacey return to the top of the leader board in the Men’s Platform Synchronised. Alongside them on the tower, in the Women’s Platform Synchronised, Laura Hingston and Nikita Hains put forward a strong showing taking out first place in their event. Stacey and Bedggood posted a combined score of 826.14 across two lists, Hingston and Hains scored 555.24.

The same day, the South Australian based team of Matthew Carter and Shixin Li along with the Victorian and Queensland pairing of Natalie Phan and Mackenzie Bowell clinched the Men’s 3m Synchronised and Women’s 3m Synchronised respectively. Carter and Li notched a total score of 826.14 with Phan and Bowell posting 500.70.

On the second and final day of the competition, Emily Chinnock Followed closely by Emily Boyd took out first and second in a hotly contested Women’s Platform Final. Shixin Li put on a display of dominance in the Men’s 3m Final topping runner up Vladimir Rudenko. Chinnock and Li scored 687.40 and 953.20 across prelims and finals in their respective events.

The Men’s Platform and Women’s 3m events were not contested.

Diving Australia General Manager, High Performance and Pathways Steve Foley says the event shows steady progress ahead of the Olympic Games later this year.

“I was really impressed with our depth displayed in the Women’s Platform event.” Foley said, “Even with some athletes underprepared, it was great to see others, like Emily Chinnock, step up and achieve world class results.

“I’m really excited to see how these divers can perform not only in Tokyo but also in Paris at the 2024 Olympic Games.

“It was great to see Shixin Li compete big dives to such a high standard in Men’s 3m. He nailed both his front four-and-a-half and triple-out.

“it was a good hit-out for our synchro teams who have struggled to get together with the boarder closures and covid restrictions. Given that it is their first competition in more than a year, there are a lot of positive signs moving forward.

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