Hernandez, Ryan advance to 1-meter finals at World Aquatics Championships
The World Aquatics Championships kicked off Friday with 1-meter preliminaries, and Hailey Hernandez (Southlake, Texas/University of Texas) and Jack Ryan (Denver, Colorado/Stanford University) qualified for the finals to lead Team USA in Fukuoka, Japan.
Ryan finished eighth to qualify for Sunday’s men’s 1-meter final, and Hernandez placed 10th to advance to Saturday’s women’s 1-meter final.
Lyle Yost (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Ohio State University) and Joslyn Oakley (Mooresville, N.C./Texas A&M) also represented the United States, with Yost finishing 13th and Oakley placing 16th in their first World Championships. Ryan was also making his World Championships debut.
The men’s 1-meter field featured 63 divers, with 44 divers competing in the women’s 1-meter contest.
Ryan came through with a strong last dive to finish the 1-meter preliminaries with 363.75 points for eighth place and a spot in the 12-diver final. Ryan, who was 13th heading into the last round, scored 72 points on his final dive, a reverse 1 ½ with 2 ½ twists, to move him into the top 12. After opening the prelims with just 41.85 points on an inward 2 ½ tuck, Ryan slowly climbed in the standings after scoring between 61.50 and 63 points on each of his next four dives.
Yost, who had the highest degree of difficulty of anyone in the 1-meter competition, just missed a spot in the final with 355.05 points for 13th. After scoring 64.60 points on his inward 2 ½ pike in round five, Yost was in 15th place heading into the last round. He finished his list with 64.80 points on his most difficult dive, a front 2 ½ with two twists, moving him up to 13th in the final standings.
Hernandez scored 239.40 points for 10th place in the women’s 1-meter preliminaries to earn her spot in the final. In 15th place after two rounds, Hernandez jumped to ninth after scoring 48.30 points on her back 1 ½ pike in the third round. She followed up with 46.80 points on a reverse 1 ½ pike and 50.70 points on a front 1 ½ with two twists to qualify for the finals.
Oakley finished 16th with 231.95 points, highlighted by 50.40 points on her inward 1 ½ pike. She received scores between 44.40 and 46.80 on each of her other four dives.
Diving events at the World Aquatics Championships continue through July 22. Saturday’s competition kicks off with Tyler Downs (Ballwin, Mo./Ripfest) and Greg Duncan (Oakton, Va./Purdue Diving) in the men’s synchronized 3-meter preliminary. Three finals are also on the schedule for Saturday. Kaylee Bishop (Boca Raton, Fla./Coral Springs Diving) and Max Weinrich (Brookeville, Md./Johansen Diving Academy) will dive in the mixed 10-meter synchro final, followed by Hernandez in the women’s 1-meter final, followed by the men’s 3-meter synchro final. All three finals will be aired live on Peacock (starting with mixed 10-meter synchro at 11:30 p.m. ET Friday).