Moving debut for Irish diver Oliver Dingley

Irish Olympic hopeful Oliver Dingley expressed pride ‘hearing the Irish anthem’ as he collected gold at the Irish Open Diving championships in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin, yesterday.

Former Team GB member Dingley switched his national allegiance last year having qualified to represent Ireland through one of his grandparents.

And adding to the emotion of the occasion was the fact that Dingley prevented British diver Tom Daley from completing a clean sweep during his weekend in the capital.

Dingley, whose transfer was officially completed last month, showed an impressive return to action having being hampered by Achilles tendon and ankle injuries since taking a bronze at the Commonwealth Games last summer.

While Daley certainly showed class throughout Saturday, Dingley claimed gold in yesterday’s final event, from the one meter board, exposing Daley’s limited competitive experience at the event.

“That was nerve-racking” admitted Dingley after collecting his first Irish championship medal. “It was a great weekend, I got a really good silver on Friday.” Dingley took gold with a total of 384.60 points, just bettering Daley’s 383.55. Daley’s final dive having registered incorrectly on the scoreboard, initially placing him in gold medal position. The final result going to Dingley.

“I felt very proud standing on the podium and hearing the Irish anthem” admitted Dingley. “It takes a lot of concentration and effort to beat an Olympic bronze medallist, especially as my ankle still isn’t right. I’ll go back to work in the gym tomorrow, my main aim is the World championships in Rio next February and the chance to qualify for the Olympics.”

Natahsa MacManus Ireland’s other hope for the Rio 2016 diving competition had a mixed weekend, picking up junior silver from the one meter board and failing to medal from three meters having suffered a disappointing start.