China’s Zhang leads 1-meter springboard diving preliminaries at swimming worlds

ROME — Zhang Xinhua of China led the preliminary round in men’s 1-meter springboard diving in the opening event of the swimming world championships.

Zhang had 416.10 points after six dives before a small crowd at the Foro Italico. Chris Colwill of the United States was second with 413.35 points and favorite Qin Kai of China was third with 412.

The top 12 finishers in the 35-man field qualified for the final later Friday.

Matthew Mitcham, the Australian who won the 10-meter platform to prevent China from sweeping all eight gold medals at last year’s Beijing Olympics, qualified in ninth.

Colwill is seeking to become the first American to win gold in 1-meter springboard, which is not an Olympic event.