#Glasgow2014: Keeney Claims Silver in 1m Springboard

Western Australian diver Maddison Keeney has won a Commonwealth Games silver medal in the women’s 1m springboard final at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh.

The 18 year-old making her Commonwealth Games debut has now won two medals in Glasgow, with the 1m springboard success adding to the bronze medal she won earlier in the campaign in the 3m synchro with Annabelle Smith.

The 1m springboard final was a Jekyll and Hyde affair for Keeney, with dives bordering on sublime, coupled with a false start in the penultimate round, incurring the West Australian a two-point deduction while she was leading the competition.

Keeney opened with a back 1 ¬Ω somersault to earn 46.00 points before following with a reverse 2 ¬Ω somersault for 57.00 points to sit well outside of the medals.

In the third round however, Keeney made her move with a stunning inward 2 ¬Ω somersault that impressed the judges to the tune of 69.75 points to catapult herself into the gold medal position.

The fourth round proved telling however, with Keeney aborting her forward 3 ¬Ω somersault in mid spring, before composing herself to complete the dive and ensure she didn’t receive a zero. Her score of 42.00 however, pushed her back out to fourth with only one dive to go.

With her hardest difficulty dive last, a forward 2 ¬Ω somersault with a twist, Keeney executed another quality dive, earning 67.20 to pinch a silver medal with a total score of 281.95 and earn a second medal from as many events.

Gold went to Canada’s Jennifer Abel (287.225) while Kenney’s Australian teammate Esther Qin took bronze (278.65).

Keeney will have the opportunity to go for a full of medals set when she competes for gold in her pet event, the women’s 3m springboard in Saturday’s Diving program.