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The 22-year-old, who won bronze in the event at London 2012 and bronze in the synchronised 10m platform last week, scored a personal best 571.85.
China's Qiu Bo, silver medallist in 2012, qualified second with 564.75 at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre in Rio.
The semi-final takes place on Saturday at 15:00 BST, and the final at 20:30.
"I am really happy with the way it went," he said. "There is still more to come from it.
"The judges don't really give out 10s in a prelim so come to away with a few 10s thrown into the mix there and a score of 571, I'm really happy with it."
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Great Britain's Tom Daley qualified for the men's Olympic diving 10m platform semi-final as the highest scorer in the preliminary competition.