Despite a pool closure in the morning, the women’s individual 3m springboard preliminaries went off without a hitch Friday afternoon at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center in Rio.
The field was paced by Canada’s Jennifer Abel (373.00 points) and China’s He Zi (367.05 points) and Shi Tingmao (357.55 points) as the top 18 compeitors punched their ticket to the semifinal round, Saturday at 3pm.
Both Americans advanced. Abby Johnston placed sixth with 333.60 points while Kassidy Cook placed eighth with 327.75 points.
Russian Nadezhda Bazhina failed to advance in large part due to a 0.00 score on her disastrous fourth dive, when she almost missed the board on her takeoff and entered the water in a back flop.
Competitors arrived on Friday morning to find the pool closed while it was under treatment for discoloration. Divers were forced into dry training and did not get to practice in the pool until 12pm ET, two and a half hours before the event.
Abby Johnston’s list
1. Back 2.5 somersault — 3.0 degree of difficulty — 63.00
2. Reverse 2.5 somersault — 3.0 — 76.50
3. Forward 3.5 somersault — 3.1 — 65.10
4. Inward 2.5 somersault — 3.0 — 66.00
5. Forward 2.5 somersault 1 twist — 3.0 — 63.00
Total score: 333.60
Kassidy Cook’s list
1. Inward 2.5 somersault — 3.0 — 64.50 points
2. Forward 3.5 somersault — 3.1 — 69.75
3. Back 2.5 somersault — 3.0 — 60.00
4. Reverse 2.5 somersault — 3.0 — 70.50
5. Forward 2.5 somersault 1 twist — 3.1 — 63.00
Total score: 327.75