Oliver Dingley and Jack Ffrench in diving action in Glasgow

By Colm O’Connor

Irish divers Oliver Dingley and Jack Ffrench get their European Championships underway in Glasgow today.

Twenty-three nations will compete in 13 diving events at the Royal Commonwealth Pool over the next six days, with the Irish pair competing in the preliminaries of the 1M springboard competition.

Rio 2016 Olympian Dingley will be confident of progression having set an Irish record of 4:02.50 last February before securing a place in the 2019 FINA Diving World Series (3M) earlier this summer

Ffrench will be competing in his third European Championships and has had shown good form in recent months after recording a season best 299 points at the British Championships in January.

Diving national head coach Damian Ball said: “Men’s springboard diving in Europe is certainly a big deal, Russia, Germany and Great Britain have some of the best springboarders in the world, so this is going to be a tough day.

“The Irish lads are in good spirits, training well and are most certainly up for the fight. All we can do now is focus on our own game and see who comes out on top at the end.”

In Glasgow yesterday, Jordan Sloan touched in 1:50.76 in the 200m freestyle while Calum Bain made his championship debut in the 50m Butterfly clocking 24.93.

Darragh Greene and Alex Murphy return to the pool for the 50m Breaststroke heats today while Niamh Kilgallen makes her senior international debut for Ireland in the 200m Individual Medley.

Meanwhile Lydia Boylan has finished fifth in the Women’s Omnium at the European Championships in Glasgow last night.

Strong performances in both the Tempo Race and the final Points Race contributed to her high overall placing in this Olympic event in a highly competitive field.

The Omnium is a four-race event with the winner being the rider who accumulates the highest number of points across four bunch races.

Boylan scored highly in both the Tempo Race, where she finished second and the Points Race where she was sixth, resulting in a fifth place in the event which was won by Dutch world champion Kirsten Wild .

Boylan said: “I knew I had to go in aggressive — but fifth overall in this race, in this strong field, I really wasn’t expecting that. I always have confidence in the points race, I know I can ride hard and last a good 80 laps.”

“Big up to my coaches David and James for getting me in the shape that I’m in.”