Tanya Watson (born 24 December 2001) is a diver who represents Ireland and specialises in the 10m platform. She competed in the women's 10 metre platform event at the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

. In 2021, she became the first Irish female diver to qualify for and compete in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. In 2022, she also became the first female diver to quality for and represent Team NI in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Diving

Born in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, England, Watson is eligible to represent Ireland through her grandmother, who was born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Watson participated in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

as a child, before focusing on diving. In 2018, she was a finalist in both the European Junior Championships and the World Junior Championships, At the

2018 Summer Youth Olympics The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de la Juventud de 2018), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international sports, cultural, and educational event held ...

, she finished fifth in the Girls' 10m platform competition, and placed 29th at the

in the Women's 10 metre platform. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, she re-located to Dublin to train at the

National Aquatic Centre The National Aquatic Centre (NAC) ( ga, Ionad Náisiúnta Uisce) is an indoor aquatics facility in Blanchardstown, Fingal, Ireland. The State-owned complex houses a 50-metre swimming pool with an associated diving pool, an aquapark and leisur ...

with the Irish national coach Damian Ball. Prior to this, she was primarily based at the Southampton Diving Academy and coached by Lindsey Fraser. She placed 16th at the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

FINA Diving World Cup The FINA Diving World Cup is an international biennial diving competition that was first contested in The Woodlands, Texas in 1979. The 2012 edition served as Diving's test event for the 2012 Olympics, as well as the final qualifying event for ...

preliminaries in May 2021, and went on to place 14th in the semi-finals. Her performance at the event ensured her qualification to the postponed

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. At the Olympics, Watson placed 16th in the preliminary round with a score of 289.4, earning herself a spot in the semi-finals. She finished 15th in the semi-finals, failing to advance to the final. Watson recently qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK. She qualified for final finishing 10th in the preliminary round and maintained that position in the Commonwealth Games final. Her full history of international competition results can be found at the official

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Tanya 2001 births Living people Irish female divers Sportspeople from Southampton Divers at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Divers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic divers for Ireland Divers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Northern Ireland