Birch reaches semi final on World Championship debut

Robyn Birch made her World Championship debut on day five in Budapest, reaching the semi final of the 10m Platform.

The Dive London diver qualified 10th from the prelim before placing 16th in the semi, with only the top 12 progressing to the final.

The 23-year old returned for the third session of the day, competing alongside Dan Goodfellow in the Team Event.

“I started the season with a back problem and didn’t even think I’d make the British team,” said Birch.

“To come here and reach the semi-final and sample this environment has been a great learning experience.”

Birch breaks 310 points in prelim

Birch’s prelim score was her better of the two, as she racked up 311.60 points in the morning session.

She slipped to 294.00 in the semi-final, although her prelim score would still have seen her miss the top 12.

City of Leeds’ European champion Lois Toulson, already a medallist on her World debut in the Mixed 10m Synchro, missed out on the semi after finishing 23rd in the prelims on 278.60.

Meanwhile, Birch rounded off a busy day with a 13th place finish in the Team Event.

She and Goodfellow, who finished an agonising fourth with Tom Daley in the 10m Synchro 24 hours earlier, scored 303.15, each performing three individual dives.

  • Click here to view full results from the FINA World Championships 2017 in Budapest.
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