Team Ireland diver Tanya Watson closed out the Tokyo 2020 aquatic schedule on Thursday morning with 15th place overall in the 10m Platform, having made the semi-final on her Olympic debut.
Watson was Team Ireland’s first female diver to represent the Olympic Team at the Games.
The 19-year-old, with roots in Derry, posted the second-highest score of her senior career on Wednesday to get through to the next round and showed the same professionalism and composure in a challenging semi-final.
Against 17 of the world’s best, Watson stepped up to improve her scores on her first two dives and did not lose focus after missing the third dive, producing solid efforts on her final two dives to finish with a total tally of 278.15 points.
She adds this performance to her fifth-place finish in the 10m Platform final at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018 when she was aged only 16.
Damian Ball, National Head Coach for Diving, added: “Today was another solid performance from Tanya, and overall this has been an amazing debut Olympics for her.
“There was some world-class diving in the pool today and for Tanya to make the final today would have required an international PB score.
“Just as we saw at the World Cup, she was not a million miles away from reaching the all-important finals. She should be very proud of everything she’s achieved this year.”
Watson was the last Irish aquatic athlete to compete for Ireland at Tokyo 2020, signing off a successful campaign for Team Ireland’s largest ever aquatic team for an Olympic Games.
The Team Ireland aquatic team did not come away from Tokyo with a medal but broke national records and improved upon personal bests during their time in Tokyo
Aquatic attentions now look ahead to the Paralympic Games, which begin on August 24 and will feature five Irish swimmers: Ellen Keane, Nicole Turner, Patrick Flanagan, Barry McClements and Róisín Ní Ríain.
