Timing is everything in synchronised diving and for twins Mark and Timothy Lee, their performance yesterday at the Fina Diving Grand Prix Singapore could not have come at a more opportune moment.
Their score of 387.21 points in the men's synchronised 3m springboard final was a personal best - eclipsing their previous record of 381.78 set at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore - and though they ended fourth and narrowly missed out on a podium finish, it was a timely shot of confidence.
The 25-year-olds have finished runners-up in this event to Malaysian pairs at the last two SEA Games and expect another tough test from their Causeway rivals at next month's Games in the Philippines.
Timothy said: "This (Fina) competition is a big booster because the countries we were competing with are big diving nations like Australia and France, so having this as the final preparations going into the SEA Games is a big boost for us.
"We were consistent and all our dives were above average, which is very good because doing six good dives across the list is very important."
He and younger twin Mark were edged out of a bronze medal last night at the OCBC Aquatic Centre by Russian brothers Evgenii and Viacheslav Novoselov's total of 390.12. French duo Gwendal Bisch and Alexis Jandard took top honours with 406.38 points followed by China's Tai Xiaohu and Zhang Chao (404.25).
The Chinese however, won yesterday's three other finals - Tang Yixuan and Du Yinying in the women's synchronised 10m platform, Huang Xiaohui in the women's 3m springboard and Duan Yu in the men's 10m platform - and finished top with seven golds in the Singapore leg of the Grand Prix.
For the Lee siblings, their focus now turns to the New Clark City Aquatics Centre where the diving competition starts on Dec 6.
At the 2017 Games in Kuala Lumpur, the hosts dominated the diving events and won 12 of the 13 golds. Singapore's Ashlee Tan and Fong Kay Yian were awarded gold in the women's synchronised 3m springboard after Malaysian Wendy Ng was found to have failed a doping test. Ng and Nur Dhabitah Sabri had finished first but were disqualified.
There are four diving events at this year's biennial Games and while Malaysia will start as favourites in all, Singapore's SEA Games diving team manager Damien Ler said the aim was to "continue to keep pace with Malaysia, at where they are now and be as close as possible to them".
Yesterday's result was also affirmation for Timothy, who has struggled with an injury in the past year. After returning from the Fina diving championships in July, he took a break to treat the tendinosis in two parts of his knee.
"I wasn't sure what this (the injury) would mean for diving and to come in front of this crowd and get a personal best is huge," he said.
