The 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, held at the Fukuoka Prefectural Pool, were a qualifying event for Paris 2024 in Diving. In the four individual events (3m Springboard and 10m Platform for both genders), the top twelve would qualify, while in their four synchronised equivalents, the top three duos would: respecting the maximum NOC quota of two per individual event and one duo per synchro event. British pairs would qualify in three of the four synchronised events (missing just the Men’s 10m Synchronised Platform), with two Brits in the Men’s 10m platform, and one in the other individual events qualifying.
Starting with the men’s side, two Brits entered the 3m springboard. Daniel Goodfellow had won Commonwealth Games gold for England last year, and had some strong results in the synchro event too. Meanwhile, Jordan Houlden had won European silver in 2022. The top eighteen would advance from the preliminary round: Goodfellow found this simple with a total of 459.70 putting him second, miles ahead of the Korea Republic’s Woo Haram with 382.40 in 19th. A poor final dive scuppered Houlden’s chances, demoting him to 22nd on 368.55, behind Malaysian Tze Liang Ooi who’s 383.60 was the benchmark. The semifinals would cut this pool to twelve, and again Goodfellow sailed through, 477.20 enough for third: the Dominican Republic’s Jonathan Ruvalcaba the man to beat on 409.45. Goodfellow faltered in the final with a couple of mediocre dives, but his score of 438.05 was enough for sixth and a berth for GB in Paris.
For the 10m platform, Kyle Kothari, who had picked up three Grand Prix medals in 2017 joined 2022 European runner-up Noah Williams. Both Williams (4th with 435.15) and Kothari (6th with 423.70) easily made it through prelims, with Australian Samuel Fricker 19th on 370.35. Kothari was the better Brit in the semis, 5th with 475.60, just ahead of Williams in 6th on 450.65, with Spain’s Carlos Camacho del Hoyo in 13th on 399.10. Both challenged admirably for a medal in the final, but just missed out. However, Williams’ 4th (499.10) and Kothari’s 5th (497.35) were both more than enough for Olympic places.
In the synchro 3m springboard, 2022 World runner-up and European and (England) Commonwealth Games champion Anthony Harding joined 2016 Olympic, 2016 and 2022 European, 2021 World Cup and (England) 2014, 2018, and 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Jack Laugher, a man who is truly one of the greats. In synchro events, there would be no semifinal: the top twelve advanced from prelims. The pair came third in prelims on 383.46, way ahead of 13th-placed Austrians Alexander Hart and Nikolaj Schaller who managed a 341.16. They battled hard in the final, and although the Chinese pair faltered giving them hope, their last dive failed to impress and they settled for silver, with 424.62 enough to qualify them for the Games: Americans Tyler Downs and Greg Duncan’s 385.23 was the mark they needed to clear for that.
In the 10m synchro event, 2020 Olympic, 2020 European, 2021 World Cup, 2018 British and for England 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Matty Lee joined Williams, who also won Commonwealth Games gold for England in 2022 with Lee. They easily got through qualifying in second, with 429.18 way ahead of Greece’s Nikolanos Molvalis and Athanasios Tsirikos in 13th on 348.45. However, a few imperfections, particularly on the penultimate dive, cost them as they came 4th with a 419.82, just shy of Mexican duo Kevin Berlin Reyes and Randal Willars Valdez in 3rd on 434.16.
On the women’s side, and in the 3m event, 2022 European bronze medalist Yasmin Harper was joined by youngster Scarlett Mew Jensen, who had already competed at Tokyo 2020. In the prelims, Mew Jensen did enough for 10th on 288.60, with Australian Georgia Sheehan in 19th on 274.90. However, Harper didn’t recover from a poor first jump and ended up with 266.10 and 24th, behind Mexican Carolina Mendoza Hernandez in 18th on 276.15. Mew Jensen snuck through the semis in 10th again on 302.05: Mendoza Hernandez the woman to beat on 289.75. She managed ninth in the final with 299.10, enough to confirm her a place in Paris.
The 10m event, had seen GB’s Eden Cheng already win a spot at the Games through her victory in the 2023 European Games. This time we saw Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, the 2022 European, World Junior, and (for England) Commonwealth Games champion joined by 2015 European Games and 2017 European Diving champion Lois Toulson. Spendolini-Sirieix qualified easily in third with a total of 353.90, while Toulson was twelfth with a 293.50: Dutchwoman Else Praasternik’s score of 283.65 the benchmark. In the semis, though Toulson managed ninth with a 313.50, a couple of shoddy jumps meant Spendolini-Sirieix fell just short, with her 305.20 just losing out to German Elena Wassen’s 307.30. In the final, Toulson’s form varied but she got a respectable fifth on 319.30, enough to qualify for Paris.
Harper and Mew Jensen were the 2023 British champions in the 3m synchro and so joined forces in Fukuoka. 294.72 was more than enough to qualify, putting the pair third, with Brazilian duo Luana Lira and Anna Santos totalling 240.00 in 13th. In the final, the Brits were pretty flawless until a subpar final jump, and despite being miles behind the victorious Chinese pair, got a 296.58 and came second. With Americans Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook fourth with 285.39 (themselves dropping out of the medals with a poor final dive), GB had booked a place in Paris in this event too.
Finally, 2022 European Champion Spendolini-Sirieix and 2018 and 2022 European Champion Toulson linked up for the synchro 10m. 293.22 was enough for third in the prelims, where there were only twelve pairs anyway, making the exercise a bit pointless. In the final, again China were a cut above, but the British pair carried themselves excellently to come second with 311.76: Mexicans Alejandra Orozco Loza and Gabriela Agundez Garcia in 4th with 291.18. This meant GB had a place in this event too.
To recap, the Brits qualified a synchro place in the Men’s and Women’s 3m Platform, and the Women’s 10m Springboard. In the Men’s 10m platform, they will have to go again at the 2024 Worlds (Doha, Qatar, 2-18 February 2024), where the final four places are up for grabs. On the individual side, in the 3m platform (for both genders) saw Brits gain just the one spot, and with the continental event (the 2023 European Games) already gone, the final twelve spots up for grabs in Doha. In the Men’s 10m Platform, the maximum two spots were achieved, while in the women’s event, just the one spot was, but this is added to Cheng’s performance in Kraków to reach a maximum of two.
GB Games 