Sheffield diver Yasmin Harper hoping to take Scarlett Mew Jensen partnership all the way to Paris Olympics

Yasmin Harper has produced her best when it mattered most on a number of occasions, most notably at the British Championships over the last three years where she has dominated the individual springboard events.

But it was by putting her hand up to step in at short notice to a new synchonised diving pair that is the opportunism that could ultimately pave the way to this summer’s Paris Olympics.

When the synchro partner of Scarlett Mew Jensen - one of the rising stars of the British diving squad - suffered an injury last Spring, the call came in to 23-year-old Harper of Sheffield.

“I was thinking I’ve got to seize this opportunity,” says Harper.

“I wanted to be in the synchro team and that moment really worked out in my favour. It only came about because her partner got injured and I had to step in and it ended up we dived well together.”

The two have dovetailed quite brilliantly. Despite just a few weeks working together, they won the British title last May and then a couple of months later went to Fukuoko in Japan and claimed a silver medal at the world championships, securing Great Britain’s spot in that event for this summer’s Olympics.

“We went into that world championships having trained together for just three months, so for us to do that was one of our biggest achievements,” says Harper.

Six months on, the global aquatics community gathers again in Doha over the next fortnight for the latest world championships and yet another significant staging post on the road to Paris.

No longer the surprise package and with GB’s spot in Paris already secured, City of Sheffield Diving Club’s Harper and her London-based team-mate Jensen head to Doha looking to cement their status in the eyes of the British selectors, and their credentials in the opinion of the judges.

“Synchro is very much about ensuring we do a good job so that the judges can see we’re still in contention,” says Harper, who is one of two Sheffield divers on Britain’s world championship squad alongside Ross Haslam.

“They’re saying the panel of judges at this world champs will most likely be the same as the one at the Olympic Games so it’s always good to keep the judges in your mind.”

Her relationship with Jensen off the board is also strong. Synchro partners training hundreds of miles apart is nothing new in diving.

“I’ve never had it any other way to be fair,” explains Harper.

“It’s pretty normal for me. I will go to London and train for a few days and she’ll come to Sheffield to train for a few days.

“It has more difficulties because if you decide there’s something you want to work on, she’s not just there for me to train with and fix, so we have to keep that in mind.

“So far it’s been pretty smooth going. And we’re really close out of the pool as well, we’re really close friends which helps and means we can have a relationship outside of the pool as well as inside it.”

The partnership may have accelerated Harper’s Olympic ambitions but she has been doing a good enough job of that on her own.

She has won the national 3m springboard title at the British Championships in each of the last two years, and the 1m springboard title for a further year, although the lower board is not on the Olympic programme.

It means her primary focus in Doha is to boost her chances of qualifying for the Olympics in the individual event. “Making a top six would be a great achievement,” says Harper, mindful that there are three World Cups and a British Championships in May to come before places on the train to Paris are finalised.

“It’s going to be go, go, go - pretty full on from now until the Olympics, but that’s how I like it.”

And all this from someone who only started to take diving seriously aged 13.

Born in Chester, she moved with her family to Sheffield aged nine when her dad relocated for work.

She was a gymnast then, good enough to go to the European Junior Championships.

“I was always into the acrobatic sports, starting off with gymnastics,” says Harper.

“I tried a bit of diving when I was nine and liked it but only really did it casually because gymnastics was so full on.

"But I got to 13 and realised it just wasn’t for me any more.

“I still wanted to do something within that realm of acrobatics. I’d seen diving on the television and thought I’d like to give this a proper go.

“Most divers start around seven or eight because it’s a sport where it takes a lot of time to develop technique.”

Yasmin Harper has certainly made up for lost time.