WAIS Diver Topples Olympic Medallists for 10m Synchro Title
WAIS diver Teju Williamson has provided further evidence of her bright future in the sport after teaming with South Australian Taneka Kovchenko to win the 10m platform synchro at the World Cup selection event in Melbourne.
Williamson and Kovchenko topped their more seasoned rivals to finish ahead of Olympic medallists Melissa Wu and Brittany Broben, after scoring 316.20 in the final, to edge victory by just .18 of a point.
At 16 years of age, Williamson is one of the most promising figures in the sport, and the result has put her firmly in the mix for World Cup selection, as she continues to develop towards Olympic representation at Tokyo 2020.
Wu stamped her authority in the 10m individual platform final, scoring 369.20 to finish well clear of Broben (328.75), whilst Williamson earned a seventh place finish with 290.25.
Former gymnast and fellow WAIS scholarship athlete Nikita Hains performed well – to finish ninth (263.40), whilst WAIS athlete Tamara Irvine scored 214.10 in 12th place.
Former WAIS scholarship athlete Maddison Keeney won the 3m springboard title following a high quality set of dives that fetched 357.80 points. Now based at the high performance training centre on the Gold Coast, Keeney finished clear of Commonwealth Games champion Esther Qin (350.10), with Anabelle Smith (333.85) in third.
WAIS athlete Alex Smedley was seventh in the men’s 10m platform, won by Victorian James Connor.