There was heartbreak for Jack Laugher in the final of the men's 3m springboard at the World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju but the diver insists he is focused on the positives.
The 24-year-old led the competition until the final round when an error saw him relinquish a 30-point lead for third place on the podium in South Korea.
The Rio medallist has never won a world title and claimed a silver medal in the men’s 3m synchro alongside Daniel Goodfellow earlier in the competition.
Despite the anguish surrounding his bronze medal, Laugher was philosophical about fixing these mistakes before Tokyo.
“As upsetting as the last dive was, the first five were amazing and I'm going to try to focus on that and focus on the good things for now,” Laugher said.
“There's things to work on and next year's a more important one, I'd rather this happen now than in Tokyo next year.
“It happened yesterday as well in the semi-final. It was weird because in the prelims it was good.
“In the final, maybe because it happened yesterday, I was thinking about it maybe too much.
“I usually finish on that dive because it can score me 90 to 100 points. It's usually one of my strongest dives and that's why I always finish on it.
“Today it really hasn't been that, and I'm extremely upset.”
Grace Reid battled hard to secure a fifth spot for Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics as she progressed through to the women’s 3m springboard final.
The 23-year-old eased through the preliminary competition but had to climb her way up the rankings when she placed 18th after her first dive.
With two dives left, Reid was in 14th place but she upped her game to produce 69.75 points with a forward 3.5 somersaults pike in the fourth round to move her into tenth.
An excellent final dive saw her score 67.50 points and qualify for the final in eighth place with 300.75 points, as well as guaranteeing GB another place in Tokyo.
Reid acknowledged that she felt the pressure after a bad start to the competition but was relieved to have made it through.
“I’m so happy! I didn’t open up very strongly, but I didn’t panic – you’ve got five dives so it’s just one dive at a time,” Reid said.
“I fought back really hard and I’m really glad it’s paid off.
“I just had to trust what I was doing, listen to Jane’s [Figueiredo, her coach] comments and stick to my routine and not be swayed when things maybe went a little bit off.
“There’s so much pressure coming into this, as it’s so doable for so many people, so it’s such a weight off my shoulders. I’m in a final now and I want to dive well.”
Elsewhere 17-year-old world championship debutant Scarlett Mew Jensen missed out on the semi-finals of the women’s springboard after finishing 26th.
Meanwhile, over at the open water swimming in Yeosu, Danielle Huskisson, Alice Dearing, Toby Robinson and Jack Burnell brought their competition to a close with an 11th place finish in the mixed 5km relay.
Sportsbeat 2019