Daley, Lee and Reid deliver on DWS day three

19 May 2019

It was business as usual for the Brits in action on the third day of the FINA/CNSG Diving World Series in London as Tom Daley, Matty Lee and Grace Reid all booked themselves into tonight’s finals.

Daley and Lee combined in the Men’s 10m Synchro on the opening day of action on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to win their maiden World Series gold as a duo, meaning confidence was high heading into the individual event.

Drawn in semi-final B, the British duo looked at ease in front of an adoring home crowd as they secured two of the top three spots required for a place in tonight’s final.

A the halfway mark Daley was out in front, the world champion showing his class, whilst Lee was in a battle with France’s Benjamin Auffret and Australia’s Domonic Bedggood for the remaining two places in the final – he ranked third with three dives remaining.

Auffret would prove the surprise package with some scintillating dives, but Daley was always in control, a stunning 103.60 Forward 4 ½ Tuck (109C) in round five saw him further extend his lead, before finishing on a total of 542.65 to top the semi-final.

It was also a job well done for Lee, as with the same Forward 4 ½ Tuck (109C) he scored 94.35 in the final round to secure his place in the final with a 485.10 total.

On making his first World Series individual final, Lee said:

“I’m very, very, very pleased. My score was only six points off my personal best so I’ve got to be really happy with how I dived. I managed everything I needed to do to get into the final and I’m just going to try and embrace it all later and have fun.”

Daley added:

“I’m really happy with how it went; there’s still room for improvement on some of my dives and some of the entries, but overall really happy. To come away with 542 [points] and top the leader in the semi-finals, I can’t argue with that.”  

The other event of the session was the Women’s 3m Springboard and both British divers, Grace Reid and Kat Torrance, were in semi-final B. The pair had been in action together earlier in the weekend as a 3m Synchro partnership but now they went head to head alongside four other international divers.

Grace Reid delivered a consistent list of dives, progressing throughout the five rounds with a Forward 3 ½ Somersault Pike (107B) scoring 74.40 points the pick of her series. That score was enough to see her through to the final this evening, as she finished third on 330.90 points, just behind the two Canadians.

Speaking after qualifying, Reid said:

"I’m really excited after that - I’m starting to find a little bit more sparkle so that’s good. Sparkle is what I call staying in my lane, so whatever is going on around me I don’t let myself get distracted by it or let it disrupt my routine that helps me dive well.

“This time four years ago I had an outside chance going into the Olympics but this time round there’s much more expectation, which is a good thing because it means I’m doing something right, but I’m always trying to adjust and get better at managing that process. Now I’m just looking forward to getting back on the boards this evening and seeing what I can do.”

Leeds-based Katherine Torrance rounded out the rankings of Semi-final B, placing sixth and with a score of 286.80.

Torrance said afterwards:

“I’m a little disappointed with that today but only because I know I can do better. This is my first year of doing all the World Series legs, so I’m getting used to building competition endurance.

“We’ve got British Champs in a couple of weeks, so I want to just focus on refining things and get ready for that.”

The final session of the 2019 FINA Diving World Series gets underway at 17:00 this evening, with world champion Tom Daley back in action in the individual 10m platform final. Tickets for the final session are available on the door.

Full results from across the weekend can be found by clicking here.

For more details about the London leg of the of the FINA/CNSG Diving World Series 2019 click here to visit our event hub.