July 11, 2019
Team Ireland divers and swimmers are ready to take on the worlds best as the FINA World Championships kick off at the Nabu University Municipal Aquatic Centre in Gwangju, South Korea tomorrow (Friday). A team of three divers and ten swimmers, Ireland’s biggest ever World Championships team, will also have their first opportunity to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games over the next two weeks.
Diving gets underway on Friday with Oliver Dingley and Clare Cryan in action. Both compete in the 1M Springboard preliminaries, a non-Olympic event, to get warmed up ahead of their main events, the 3M Springboard on Wednesday and Thursday next week. Rio 2016 Olympic Games finalist Dingley and 2017 Diving Grand Prix medallist Cryan are joined by 17-year-old Tanya Watson, who was a finalist at the 2018 European Championships. Watson competes in the Platform (10M) event on Tuesday.
Dingley, Cryan and Watson will all be aiming to finish within the top 12 places at the Championships to secure places for Ireland at the 2020 Games, with a second and last opportunity for the divers coming in April 2020 at the FINA Diving World Cup.
Speaking ahead of the Championships Swim Ireland National Performance Director Jon Rudd commented “A summer World Championships is always an exciting event, held every two years, but the one before an Olympic Games has even more excitement and anticipation linked to it as our athletes look to put a foot in the door when it comes to Tokyo selection. That is not to say that these Championships are not important in their own right, because they are and our whole season has been geared towards these days in Gwangju. Both our swimming and diving teams blend experience with youth, and we will now see what these athletes can deliver on the world stage in what will be a terrific event in all regards.”
Swimming at the Championships commences on July 21st.
Schedule Friday 12th July
| Mens 1M Springboard Preliminary | Oliver Dingley | 11am (3am) |
| Women 1M Springboard Preliminary | Clare Cryan | 4pm (8am) |
Notes:
Results available HERE
Irish Athlete Schedule & Info available HERE
Full Schedule available HERE
Teams:
12th – 20th July FINA World Championships (Diving)
Athletes: Clare Cryan (National Centre Dublin), Oliver Dingley (National Centre Dublin), & Tanya Watson (Southampton Dive Academy)
21st – 28th July FINA World Championships (Swimming)
Athletes: Curtis Coulter (Bangor), Niamh Coyne (National Centre Dublin), Conor Ferguson (National Centre Dublin), Darragh Greene (National Centre Dublin), Brendan Hyland (National Centre Dublin), Jack McMillan (Bangor), Robert Powell (National Centre Dublin), Shane Ryan (National Centre Dublin), Jordan Sloan (National Centre Dublin), Ellen Walshe (Templeogue).
