20 February 2008
Olympic Ben makes real splash
Diving student seals Beijing place
MMU’s Ben Swain underlined his Olympic medal credentials by finishing fourth in the 3 metres Synchro diving at the World Cup in Beijing yesterday.
The 21-year-old Sport Science undergraduate missed the bronze medal by just two points but secured his qualification for the 2008 Olympic Games.
The City of Sheffield star, who dived in tandem with Nick Robinson-Baker, said: "It’s down to the hard work we’ve put in."
National performance director Steve Foley added: "These guys are a relatively new team but what they’ve done is simply amazing."
Gold standard
In January the pair beat the Olympic champions to take gold in their event at the British Diving Championships in Manchester.
The duo won the 3m synchro event by more than 50 points from 2004 Olympic champions Thomas Bimis and Alexandros Manos of Greece.
"The future looks good with a very big year ahead of us," said Swain.
"This event was designed to boost our confidence but it's exciting because a score like that next month will put us right into contention for Olympic qualification."
Ben, who studies at MMU Cheshire, is one of several international athletes studying at MMU, including Lucy Ayres (Cycling), Shaun Issitt (BMX) and Steve Hoskins (Wheelchair Racing).
