Reid rounds out her Worlds as platform pair make final

2 Jul 2022

Grace Reid completed her busy World Championship programme by finishing eighth in the Women's 3m Springboard final on the penultimate day of action in Budapest - while Matty Lee and Noah Williams have set up an intriguing final day with their performances in the Men's 10m Platform.

Lee and Williams will both compete in the World Championship curtain call that is the men's platform finale on Sunday evening after two strong showings in the semi-final - and more on that later.

Saturday's competition, though, was rounded out with the last individual springboard contest of the meet, with Reid - a bronze medallist alongside James Heatly in the Mixed 3m Synchro earlier in the week - representing Britain and first on the start list after squeezing into the final on Friday.

Grace immediately delivered on her quest to give herself a better start than in the previous rounds, with consistent efforts with her Back and Reverse 2 1/2 Somersaults Pike in the first two dives securing 58.50-point scores apiece from the judges. 

While the 26-year-old could not quite nail the entries to elicit the big marks from the judging panel - something she is already targeting ahead of next month's Commonwealth Games - she built through the competition and delivered her best dive of the lot in round four, a well-executed Forward 2 1/2 Somersaults 1 Twist Pike (5152B) earning 63.00 points. 

Ultimately, Reid finished on 292.90, moving up the leaderboard with her last two dives to place eighth in the world. It is a result that Grace reflects on with pride - and she also explains why these World Championships in Budapest could be an important springboard for the coming months and years.

"That was steady. It's been a long time since I've been top eight in the world, so I'm super pleased. I think there's a lot more room in the tank - I cannot seem to find an entry, and I think that's going to make that difference to get those higher scores, so I'm feeling quite motivated now to go and work on that. I'm really pleased overall," she said.

"It's a really busy summer which is really exciting. We'll see if we can get some more training in, tweaking and fine-tuning now, and I've not been in that place for a long time. 

"I've fallen back in love with my sport, and that's the biggest thing I've achieved over the last two weeks, so that's huge for me. It is hard sometimes going from that synchro (with James Heatly), where you've got that support network, and then you're stood on your own, that can be daunting sometimes. So to be able to stand on my own two feet and build my confidence, that's huge."

Earlier in the day, Matty Lee and Noah Williams both safely secured their passage to Sunday's Men's 10m Platform final - the event that will bring the curtain down on this year's World Aquatics Championships. 

The first task for the Dive London Aquatics duo - who won a historic silver in the Men's 10m Synchro earlier in the meet - was to navigate their way out of a 39-strong prelims. 

Matty Lee twist laying back pose 10m Platform Budapest 2022
Matty Lee (pictured) and Noah Williams will contest the Men's 10m Platform final on Sunday

That job was done professionally, setting them both up for what would turn out to be a high-class semi-final. Matty started strongly, with his Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 2 1/2 Twists Pike (52552B) earning an eye-catching 86.40 from the judges. Noah also gave himself a promising opening with the same dive, receiving a tally of 75.60. 

From there, it was a case of consistency for both, with Lee and Williams more than holding their own in the face of some quality dives. 

Matty delivered a score of 74.25 for his Armstand Back 3 Somersaults Tuck (626) and then 67.20 for his Inward 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (407C). A slight drop in round four was quickly recovered from, with the Olympic gold medallist's fifth-round Reverse 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (307C) worth 81.60, his highest score of the day. 

Closing things out with 79.55 for his Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (109C), Lee placed fifth overall before reflecting on a job well done in his first major individual competition for several years - and he is relishing the prospect of tomorrow's final.

"It's been a long time since I've done a World Championship or World Cup prelim, I think the last time I did that in the individual was here in the 2017 World Championships, when I was 19," he said.

"I've forgotten how gruesome they can be, they're so long. You just have to survive, that's all it is, just surviving, it's a marathon not a sprint. So I'm happy I've managed to get through everything today, and now I'll get some sleep and come all guns blazing tomorrow.

"There are a lot of newcomers here, and I need that, I need to be under pressure because that's then how you elevate to their level and above. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow - it's been a while since I've done an individual final, so I'm taking it all in, getting used to it again and we'll see what tomorrow brings."

Matty will be joined on the start list for that final by Williams, who progressed well through the day. Following that solid opening in dive one of the semi-final, he produced three more 75-plus dives, including a big improvement on his Inward 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (407C) for 75.20 points and a strong closer in dive six, his Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (109C) worth 75.85. 

That ensured he placed seventh overall out of the 18 semi-finalists, comfortably inside the crucial top 12. 

Assessing his day's performance, Noah said: "It was very steady, especially in the semi-final, so I'm really happy with that. Hopefully I can step it up a bit in the final, but for today, I'm really happy with how it went.

"I'm feeling in a pretty good place. My diving hasn't been the best since the synchro, I've been a bit tired - but I've got nothing to lose tomorrow, so I'm going to go for it and see what happens."

The final day of competition on Sunday will also feature Worlds debuts for Desharne Bent-Ashmeil and Amy Rollinson in the Women's 3m Synchro. 

For all results from the World Aquatics Championships, click here

Visit our ‘What’s On?’ page here for a full rundown on how you can watch every final from the diving in Budapest.