TORN HAMSTRING ENDS BRITISH DIVING HOPES
An injury to diver Tony Ally ended any chance of Britain
threatening for World Championship honours in the Men’s
3m Synchro event in Canada despite a brave effort from a make-shift
replacement pairing
Ally was forced to pull-out of partnering Shipman on the eve
of the Montreal competition after he tore a hamstring in training
just 24 hours before he was due to compete.
Olympic silver medallist in the Platform Synchro Pete Waterfield
was called in as a last minute replacement but, with just
12 hours to prepare, the pair missed out on a place in the
final by the smallest of margins.
It was unlucky 13 for the British pair as they finished the
preliminaries just a place outside the top 12 to go through
to the final.
Shipman and Waterfield scored 285.21, despite their lack of
preparation, and were just 0.27 of a point off the coveted
12th place which Belarus took on 285.48.
“It’s desperately bad luck and the timing couldn’t
have been worse,” said National Performance Director
Steve Foley. “Ally and Shipman had been diving well
together – as good as I’ve ever seen them –
so it’s a real blow to both guys and the team as whole.
“Fortunately we could still put a team in there to compete
and it was a great effort. They nearly managed to pull it
off but missed out on the final by the smallest of margins.
“When you don’t compete together, let alone train
together, to actually get a top 13 result is pretty impressive
and shows the kind of talent the squad has.”
Ally’s problem started last week when he caught his
hamstring on a springboard in a freak training accident. Intense
treatment from the squad’s medical staff attempted to
loosen the muscle but it finally succumbed to a slight tear
as Ally trained thought the pain in an effort to compete.
“It’s devastating because we were ready to get
in there and push for medals after some brilliant training
sets. We were looking great but these things happen.
“The guys did the best they could today with less than
12 hours preparation. It shows the kind of characters we have
involved.”
Ally will continue to undergo intensive treatment thoughout
the week to give himself the slightest chance of being fit
enough to compete in the individual competition
“I’m not ruling out competing in the 3m event
later in the week but it’s not looking good. We have
a great team working with me to try to put it right but time
is running out.”
Britain’s 10m Synchro pairing of Claire Blencowe and
Tonia Couch will carry British hopes with them in tonight’s
finals after they progressed in 12th place in what is their
first major international meet.
The British Diving World Championship squad comprises:
Claire Blencowe
City of Sheffield
Tonia Couch
Plymouth Diving
Brooke Graddon
Plymouth Diving
Tandi Indergaard
City of Leeds
Hayley Sage
Beaumont Diving Academy
Louise Van Hoof
Luton Kingfishers
Tony Ally
City of Sheffield
Mark Shipman
City of Sheffield
Ben Swain
City of Sheffield
Leon Taylor
City of Sheffield
Peter Waterfield
Southampton
The 11th FINA World Championships will take
place in Montreal, Canada between 17th and 31st July 2005.
The championships incorporate swimming, diving, open water
swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo.
The diving events take place between 17th and 24th July at
the Parc Jean-Drapeau, an island in the middle of the St Lawrence
River.
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