Hailey Hernandez
Hernandez, Gibson Finish 6th, 7th on 1-meter at World Championships
Hailey Hernandez (Southlake, Texas/Austin, Texas) and Alison Gibson (Austin, Texas) finished sixth and seventh respectively in the women’s 1-meter final as the World Aquatics Championships opened Friday in Doha, Qatar. The U.S. also picked a fifth-place finish in the mixed team event on Friday.
Hernandez scored 249.60 points to finish sixth on 1-meter, while Gibson notched 249.35 for seventh in her first international competition since the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Hernandez was consistent in the final, scoring no lower than 46.80 on any of her five dives. Her front 2 ½ pike earned 54.60 points, and her front 1 ½ with two twists scored 50.70 points.
Gibson missed her second-round back 1 ½ pike for just 33.35 points to sit in 11th place with three rounds to go, but she responded with a 58.50-point front 2 ½ pike to jump to eighth after the third round. She followed up with 52.80 points on a reverse 1 ½ pike and closed out her list with 50.70 points on a front 1 ½ with two twists.
Alysha Koloi of Australia won gold with 260.50 points, while Grace Reid of Great Britain took silver at 257.25. Egypt’s Maha Amer scored 257.15 for bronze.
Both Hernandez and Gibson will compete again later in the championships, with Hernandez set to dive individually on 3-meter and Gibson slated to compete in synchronized 3-meter with Krysta Palmer.
In Friday’s mixed 3-meter/10-meter team event, Sarah Bacon (Indianapolis, Ind./Minneapolis, Minn), Brandon Loschiavo (Huntington Beach, Calif./West Lafayette, Ind.), Lyle Yost (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Columbus, Ohio) and Katrina Young (Shoreline, Wash./Los Angeles) teamed up for 344.75 points to finish fifth out of 12 teams. In the mixed team event, a team of up to four divers – two men and two women – must perform three dives on 3-meter and three dives on 10-meter. All six groups must be included, and the list must include two synchro dives.
Loschiavo led the team with 78.20 points on a reverse 3 ½ tuck on 10-meter, and he paired with Bacon for 63 points on a synchronized inward 2 ½ pike on 3-meter. Bacon also added 54 points on her back 2 ½ pike on 3-meter. Yost and Young came through with 58.50 points on a synchronized front 3 ½ pike on 10-meter. Individually, Yost scored 52.65 on his front 2 ½ with three twists on 3-meter, while Young scored 38.40 points on an armstand double back with 1 ½ twists on 10-meter.
Great Britain’s team took the team event gold with 421.65 points, followed by Mexico at 412.80 and Australia at 385.35.
Diving events at the World Aquatics Championships continue through February 10. Saturday’s competition features Yost and Jack Ryan (Denver, Colo./Stanford) in men’s 1-meter and Tyler Wills (Carmel, Ind.) and Bayleigh Cranford (Jamestown, N.C./NC State) in mixed 10-meter synchro.
