Wu on brink of fifth titles
OLYMPIAN Melissa Wu has underlined her class to win the women’s platform title at the Australian diving championships in Sydney and the threetime Olympian seems headed for her fifth world titles.
Rio bronze medallist Maddison Keeney yesterday added another two national titles to her list.
And Matthew Carter, 16, upstaged more fancied rivals to win the men’s 3m springboard to give world championships selectors a headache.
Wu, 25, showed she had made a full recovery from an injury earlier this year by dominating the platform final, and looks certain to compete at this year’s worlds in Hungary.
She finished with a total of 380.50, which included an 81.60 for her final dive. Rio teammate Brittany O’Brien was second on 325.25.
Wu is enjoying some of the best form of her long career, having won a silver medal and splitting the Chinese Olympic gold and silver medallists at last month’s world series event in Canada.
Keeney celebrated her 21st birthday on Tuesday, the same day she and Olympic bronze medal partner Anabelle Smith won the 3m springboard. Yesterday she added the 1m indi- vidual and the 3m mixed synchro with Domonic Bedggood to her Australian titles.
With the 3m final to come today, Keeney might contest four events in Budapest.
Selectors face a dilemma choosing the team for the men’s 3m, with outsider Carter taking the national title.
But selectors will take into account all three rounds of the competition and — with 2016 Olympian Kevin Chavez finishing top of the leaderboard after the preliminary round, and two-time Olympian James Connor taking the honours in the semi-final — it will make for a tough decision.