Waterfield feeling good
Peter Waterfield defied his limited preparation to reach tonight's final of the 10metre platform at the FINA World Cup.
Last Updated: 25/02/12 1:24pm
Peter Waterfield defied his limited preparation to reach tonight's final of the 10metre platform at the FINA World Cup in London.
While high-profile names such as Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham failed to progress, Waterfield kept his nerve to sneak through to the 12-diver final in 10th.
The 30-year-old is returning after two months out with side and back injuries at the Olympic Aquatics Centre this week and admitted he had just about exceeded his expectations in qualifying for the final.
"I came in here saying that if I was to get a final I would be happy with that," he said. "Now that I am in the final I want to try and put some pressure on the others and see what happens.
"As you saw today a lot of them starting blowing out. Matthew Mitcham blew out, the Mexican (Rommel Pacheco) he got lost.
Shaky performances
"There's some shaky ones out there. If I can sharpen up my dives and put some pressure on them then we'll see what happens."
Waterfield had been in some early trouble but finally found his range on his front four-and-a-half somersault - the same dive that cost him and Tom Daley a medal in Thursday night's synchro final - to ensure his place tonight.
"It was a lot better. I had a few problems with my first two dives. I then knew I had to put my front four-and-a-half at least on my head to stay in with a chance of getting into the final," he continued.
"If I can take anything out of the competition it was that my front four-and-a-half improved since the other day.
"It's starting to feel a lot better now and a lot more comfortable. Hopefully I'll be a lot more confident in the final."
This afternoon Becky Gallantree and Alicia Blagg will look to join Waterfield in tonight's finals session when they compete alongside each other in the 3m springboard synchro.
