Sarah Barrow believes confidence was key as she claimed 10m platform synchro bronze with Tonia Couch in the opening session of the World Diving Series in Kazan.
It had been a frustrating start to the season for the pair after they started their campaign off with a fifth place finish in Beijing with a score of 289.62.
While a score of 305.04 was an improvement in Dubai it saw the duo finish sixth and they struggled to make headway into a competitive field.
But they made their mark in Kazan as they scored 312.54 to take bronze – 27.18 ahead of home divers Yulia Timoshinina and Daria Govar.
It was the Chinese who led the way however as Chen Ruolin and Huixia Liu racked up 338.88 to see off Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion.
But with the World Championships in the same pool later this year, Barrow is delighted to see the hard work pay off.
"After the disappointment of China and Dubai, Tonia and I really put the work in back home and at the training camp in Krugloe, plus with the patience, help and support of our coach Andy we came into the competition feeling a lot more confident," she told British Swimming.
Elsewhere on day on Alicia Blagg and Rebecca Gallantree finished sixth in the 3m synchro springboard. The pair scored 266.07 but were 14.73 off the podium places.
Saturday sees Blagg and Gallantree go in the individual 3m springboard while Jack Laugher gets his competition started in the men’s event.
© Sportsbeat 2015