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SA's Dreyer dives into semis
Athens - Jenna Dreyer, the 18-year-old SA diving champion who "bombed" out in the 10-metre platform discipline, came good at the Athens Olympics on Wednesday when she qualified for the semi-finals in the three-metre springboard at the Aquatic Centre.
Dreyer made it through to Thursday's finals with a 267.84 points total - 79,20 behind Yulia Pakhalina of Russia who won the preliminary.
"I was much more comfortable today," said Dreyer afterwards. "I far prefer the board to the platform. My last dive earned me a 7.5. I'm really thrilled to have made it into the semis."
Dreyer entered the water far more cleanly in her second Olympic experience in the pool after having been overawed by the Olympic experience in her first outing in the 10m-platform dive where she finished last.
On Wednesday, she was looking considerably more relaxed. Lying 23rd after the first dive, Dreyer added a seventh-ranked second dive of 60.30 points to move her through to 16th overall, then she remained consistent to the end to drop only one position.
Should she make it through the semis, she will compete in the finals in the evening session.
Further down the scenic Greek coastline Australia-based South African Megan Hall finished 36th in the women's triathlon in a time of two hours, 16 minutes and 26 seconds, more than 12 minutes behind the eventual winner, Kate Allen of Austria, who came home in 2:04:43.
Alan van Coller failed to qualify for the K1 1000m final when he finished fifth in his semi-final contest but will be looking forward to Thursday's 500m event for which he is a medal contender.
In hockey, the South African men finally turned their opportunities into goals, taking their frustrations of the pool matches out on Egypt by beating them 5-1 in the classification matches at the Hellenico complex on Wednesday.
The South Africans now take on Britain in the playoff for ninth place on Friday, as do the hockey women against Spain on Thursday.
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