Jake Passmore aims for six of the best in Olympic diving bow

The waiting game. That's what Jake Passmore had to play since 7 February.

A 17th-place finish in the 3-metre springboard at the World Aquatic Championships in Doha was, at the time, not enough to see him qualify automatically (only the top 12) for the Paris Olympic Games. But there was still hope.

The qualification process in diving involves competition in individual and synchronised events. Each country is limited to two divers per event, so Passmore was hoping that the quota would be exceeded and he could grab one of the coveted spots.

The waiting game would last 110 days.

And Passmore revealed that the waiting was not easy, when he spoke to RTÉ Sport on the day the Olympic Federation of Ireland officially confirmed his participation at his first Olympics in the French capital.

In fact, Passmore got the news on 14 June. "I got a nice little call from Damien Ball, the current head of diving, two days after my birthday, so it was a nice little present," he said.

And while it's the hope that kills you, the 19-year-old was always confident that Ball's phone call would eventually reveal such good news.

"I was 90% sure I'd got the spot anyway because no one in 17th place hasn't gotten to the Olympics but waiting for that call was brutal, not having a definite yes or no if I was going.

"You can have 32 divers over all men's events, including synchronized. Every time a diver does one more event, it opens a space in the individual, so I got lucky, five divers who are doing synchro, are doing individual as well, so that pushed me up."