Clare Cryan has announced her retirement from competitive diving.
Cryan retires after a stellar performance at the European Championships in Serbia in June where she won Ireland's first senior international medal for diving courtesy of the three-metre springboard.
In 2018 she won Ireland’s maiden Diving Grand Prix medal in the same event.
The 30-year-old followed that up in 2019 with Grand Prix Bronze, when she teamed up with Oliver Dingley in the 3M mixed synchro.
Cryan had her best World Championships result that year with an 11th-place finish in the one-metre springboard in South Korea.
A 44th place finish at this year's World Aquatics Championships in Doha ended her hopes of making the Olympics.
She is the current Irish record holder in both the 1M and 3M springboard.
Cryan said "It is not an easy decision to retire from something you love doing, but I am happy that I have been able to make this decision on my own and for all the right reasons.
"Diving has given me so much more than the ability to fling myself off high things (somewhat gracefully) and the opportunities to perform on the international stage, I have gained so many friends and learnt a lot about myself that I can take forwards with me in my next chapter.
"I will be forever grateful to Swim Ireland and Sport Ireland for all their support, knowledge and attention to detail. I know none of this would have been possible without them.
"I may not have always had the satisfying performances that I trained so hard for, but now, reflecting on my career, I know that I have surpassed the expectations I had on myself when I was starting on this journey 21 years ago, and that is something to be very proud of.
"I hope that I can continue to be involved supporting aquatics (and diving) in the island of Ireland."
Ireland’s national diving head coach Damian Ball praised Cryan’s impact in the sport: "Clare brought a superior energy level to training and competition, and it was a real privilege to have been one of Clare’s coaches over the last seven years.
"Clare was well respected by the international diving community and should be proud of all she has achieved in the sport at club, national and international level. A wonderful person and a true professional, and I wish her all the very best for the future."
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