Worlds, Giovanni Tocci and Lorenzo Marsaglia in finals from 3-meter springboard

Worlds, Giovanni Tocci and Lorenzo Marsaglia in finals from 3-meter springboard

Italy’s Giovanni Tocci and Lorenzo Marsaglia qualified for the finals from the 3-meter springboard at the World Water Sports Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, placing seventh and eighth, respectively, in the semifinals with 435.95 and 430.20 points and also earning a pass to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The highest score came from China’s Zongyuan Wang with 546.25 ahead of compatriot Daoyi Long with 495.80 and Britain’s Daniel Goodfellow with 477.20. Here are statements from the two Italian nationals taken from federnuoto.it.

“I feel like crying, I have no words and I can hardly believe it – says Tocci – I was dreaming of the Paris Olympics and I was hoping to have a perfect semifinal. All my dives went in like I haven’t in a long time. It is beautiful for me, for the team, for my family and for Lollo (Marsaglia, ed.). Tomorrow is the final, which I will face with the right serenity: it will be beautiful.”

“I have to start taking French lessons,” Marsaglia added, “I deserve it, Giovanni who is like a brother to me. We’ve been training all year thinking about this race and today we did very well. So many people struggled especially during the long preliminaries; we were perfect. It is one of the most intense emotions of my career.”

Also from federnuoto.it here are the rules. “For individual Olympic specialties provided three rounds of competition: preliminaries, semifinals at 18 and finals at 12. Two rounds (preliminaries and finals at 12) for the other events. The team event requires teams to consist of a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 4 members, at least one male and one female, who must perform two individual dives and one mixed synchronized dive, either from the springboard or the platform, for a total of six dives in which all six groups of the rotations must be present. The top twelve finishers from the 3-meter and platform and the best three pairs of the Synchro (no mixed) will win the Olympic card for Paris 2024 for their nation (Max. 2); Italy has already secured a pass thanks to the success of Chiara Pellacani, who therefore will not be able to win more personally, from the 3-meter at the recent European Games in Krakow.”