Day 3 of the Australian Open Championships inc Nomination Trials saw Australia’s Olympic hopefuls in the Women’s 10-Metre Platform and the Women’s and Men’s 3-Metre Springboard take to the pool. 

The Men’s 3-Metre Springboard Preliminary was a hotly contested event with familiar names Kurtis Mathews (NSW) and Shixin Li (SA) ending the round in first and second place respectively. 

Careful not to get ahead of himself, Mathews said his performance in the Preliminary Round has been a confidence boost heading into Saturday’s Semi-Final. 

“I feel really good, obviously we are only one third of the way through the event so not celebrating just yet but definitely happy with this performance,” said Mathews.

“It’s always nice to get a good performance out, I’ll just try and repeat the same thing tomorrow and on finals day. 

“This pool is phenomenal, the boards themselves are amazing and it’s nice and bright so you can see where you are going in the air, it’s a very nice environment.” 

In the Women’s 3-Metre Springboard Preliminary, Maddison Keeney (WA) led the way ending the round with 356.20 points ahead of Georgia Sheehan (QLD) in second place with 303.10 and Alysha Koloi (QLD) placing third with (300.60).

Georgia Sheehan shared she is hoping to improve on today’s performance after using her nerves to her benefit. 

“I think I was a little bit taken back with how nervous I was, this is my first time seriously trialling for an Olympic Games as I took a break from diving during the Tokyo 2020 trials,” said Sheehan. 

“The cobwebs have been blown off now so I’m hoping to fine tune some of my dives tomorrow and score a little better over the next two rounds. 

“One of the really great things about diving is the mutual respect within the sport because what we do is so niche, so whether you have a good or bad dive to hear the crowd and to know you’re supported is such a good feeling.” 

Rounding out the day's events was the Women's 10-Metre Platform Preliminary and Semi-Final. Australian Diving stalwart Melissa Wu (NSW) led the way from the start, hot on her heels was Emily Meaney (TAS) and Ellie Cole (NSW). 

Placing second behind her fellow NSW teammate, Cole shared 

“I’m feeling excited, I’m glad to get the first day of this event out of the way,” said Cole.

“I’ve been trying to enjoy the competition and having as much fun as I can to turn my nerves into excitement. 

“Anything can happen in competition so now it’s just try and have a good day tomorrow then wait and see.”

Day 4 of the Australian Open Championships inc Nomination Trials begins at 10am ACST Saturday. Watch the action live and free on 9Now. 

See all Day 3 results here