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."
𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 | Diving 💧
— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) June 26, 2024
Jake Passmore will be competing for Team Ireland in the Men's 3m Springboard.
"I’m a bit lost for words, really. It’s not something I expected to happen this year, so I’m taking every bit of this as a… pic.twitter.com/wLOFwpZtx1
And so another male competitor from Yorkshire will represent Ireland in diving, this after Oliver Dingley competed at the Rio and Tokyo Games.
Passmore was born in Bradford and qualifies for Ireland through his Dublin-born grandmother.
Did he ever think about competing for Team GB?
"No that was never in my mind," was his succinct response.
"As soon as I started getting serious about international diving when I was about, I think I was 10, and it was my first ever Irish nationals, I’ve decided that I’m competing for Ireland. And I stuck with that and I never thought about changing my mind. It was always something I wanted to do and it's paid off massively."
In 2022, Passmore, competing in the 1-metre springboard, won a silver at the World Juniors and then a bronze at the Europeans.
A year later, this time stepping up to compete at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, there was a disappointing 45th-place in the 3-metre.
Onwards to Doha last February; looking to improve was the main goal, Paris was not really on the agenda.
"My mind was set on LA, Doha I was just go, do six dives, see how they go. I did my last dive probably the best I’ve ever done, and it was enough to get me that last spot, and that was a shot to the system.
"It was always in the back of my mind it was a hope, but judging by other competitions I was never sure it would happen, in Japan I was around 45th, had a terrible competition. Whereas in Doha everything seemed to fall into place for me."
So what would represent a good Olympics?
"It’s more of a personal goal, just to be happy with what I’ve done. I don’t know how to word it, but if I can cope with the pressure that would be great, I have done anyway at world events. Just do the six best dives I can, then anything can happen, can’t it?"
It's not surprising that Passmore is looking forward to the Olympic experience. As of now, no nerves, just over six weeks out from competition.
Tellingly, he did reveal: "I almost don't really have a word to describe the feeling, not nervous, I don't know, absolutely blank."
When asked to expand on that 'blank' feeling, he added: "I'm not sure honestly. It's not a situation I've ever been in before. It's not like I've prepared for how I am going to feel but when I'm diving I try to be as blank as possible so I'm not stressing, I'm not worrying, because the only thing stressing is going to do is make me dive worse so the calmer I am the better really.
"I used to be absolutely terrible [being stressed] but over the past, I'd say two years, when I've got more international exposure I've been way better. I've found a way to almost tune myself out of competitions by either listening to music or juggling or whatever.
"Yeah, juggling, I taught myself how to juggle during lockdown and it kind of stuck as something to do but I can't do it for that long or my arms get tired and I'm worried I'm not going to be able to grab my hands."
No doubt when Passmore makes his Olympic bow on 6 August, the various display of acrobatic feats of falling into water will be analysed and assessed.
Those few seconds in the air are graceful, though making it look elegant, not surprisingly, involves a lot of hard graft. It's not easy on the body, as Passmore explained: "It's surprisingly brutal compared to what people think. It's a lot of loading your knees and a lot of loading your wrists, specifically for the three-metre, it's a lot for your knees and ankles. You'll see a lot of divers taping their knees and ankles to try and minimise the risk around that.
"I was taping my knee for a little extra support because there is a lot of load going into your legs, to get your legs prepped. It takes a lot more than you'd expect.
"I have had a lot of injuries, broken a few bones but if you got the right people around you and are doing the right sessions, you'll be fine.
"Three metres isn't actually that bad. It's when you get up to 10 metre, that it’s ridiculous. When I did 10m it felt like you were just getting thrown into a wall and I think anyone who does 10m would agree with me there.
"I did 10 until I was 13, 14, I think. Then I just said no, it’s too much."
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