LONDON - Canada's Alexandre Despatie and Reuben Ross punched their tickets to the London Olympics with a performance that was far more about boosting confidence than scoring points.
The duo, who until two weeks ago hadn't competed together in more than a year, finished fifth in the three-metre synchronized event Monday at a Diving World Cup at the new Aquatics Centre built for this Games on Monday to claim a spot in the Summer Olympics.
"It's great," Despatie said on a conference call. "I looked at Reuben right away after the event tonight, I could see the relief on his face and I felt exactly the same way."
Despatie, from Laval, Que., and Ross, from Regina, needed a top-seven finish to qualify, what Despatie called a "tall order" for the multiple world champion who was sidelined for most of last season with a knee injury.
The injury caused Despatie to miss a shot at an early qualification at last year's world championships in Shanghai, and the two-time Olympic silver medallist admitted his confidence had taken a beating.
The two were second after Monday morning's preliminary round before finishing with a score of 417.42.
"I needed this boost this morning as an individual diver just to feel better about myself to feel more confident," Despatie said. "I know I can compete, I know it's there inside of me, inside of my heart, and my head."
Despatie and Ross will compete in the individual three-metre events on Tuesday, and need top-18 results to qualify for London in that event.
"Today was a really good day," Ross said. "I was very, very excited, thrilled after the event. It was a big relief. It was a little stressful coming into the event, in diving, there's a lot of uncertainty, anything can happen. It's a great feeling right now."
In diving, athletes secure places for their country in each event. Which divers will actually compete in London will be decided later at the national trials, although barring injuries, the same group will likely be diving at the Olympics.
"We weren't after a great score, we weren't after a medal today, the only objective was to qualify the country for the Games and that's what we did," Despatie said. "We're very relieved, it was a tall and big order for us to achieve this, but we managed to pull it off.
"We're really happy. Now back to the drawing boards, and train a lot harder for the rest of the year."
The World Cup marked the test event for the Aquatics Centre, described as "mythical" by one top diver and "breathtaking" by another.
The venue will host four events at this summer's Olympics and was given a big thumbs-up Monday when the iconic London venue opened its doors for competition for the first time.
Thousands of fans poured into the sleek, wave-shaped venue to witness the latest test event, following a similar track cycling competition at the nearby velodrome over the weekend.
China dominated the opening day's action, with double Olympic champion Chen Ruolin topping the scoring in the preliminary round for the women's 10-metre platform. Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal and Roseline Filion of Laval are fifth and ninth respectively. The pair earned Canada's Olympic quota spots in the event at the world championships last year with top-12 finishes.
While the week-long event provides a final opportunity for divers to secure qualification places for London, it also gives many of the world's top performers a precious early chance to sample the atmosphere of an Olympic venue.
The Aquatics Center will also stage swimming, synchronized swimming and modern pentathlon this summer.
"Pools have their own uniqueness, design and engineering to depict culture, history or innovation. This captured all of them," American diver Troy Dumais, a three-time Olympian, told The Associated Press. "These are phenomenal facilities. We don't often get to see things like this and sometimes it can be overwhelming and mythical, and it can throw you out of your routine."
Australian diver Loudy Wiggins was taken aback by the 269-million-pound (US$426-million) venue.
"I walked in and said, 'Wow, this is incredible.' It's quite spectacular, I'd even go as far as saying it's breathtaking," said Wiggins, who qualified for the final of the women's event. "It's got all the right references. They've pretty much thought of everything."
Some 220 divers from 40 countries are competing in the World Cup, which the Chinese were expected to dominate. They swept all 10 golds in an unprecedented exploit at last year's world championships and have dominated recent Olympics, making some of their divers household sporting names in the country.
Chen, who won both the 10-metre platform and synchronized 10-metre platform in the Beijing Games in 2008, finished a comfortable first in the women's event Monday, nearly 65 points clear of second-place Yulia Koltunova of Russia.
"The crowd are all very excited," Chen said. "They give you their good support whether your jump is good or bad."
A total of 3,000 tickets have been sold for each of the three sessions per day for the test event. The capacity will stretch to 17,500 once temporary wings are added to the purpose-built venue, whose spectacular wave-like roof and location in the "gateway" to the Olympic Park makes it the one of the most striking stadiums for the games.
— With files from The Associated Press.
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