Medal haul for English divers at World Series

A team of six English divers have completed the final two legs of a successful FINA/NVC Diving World Series, finishing with an impressive seven medals from the two events.

The team were in action in Windsor, Canada and Kazan, Russia over the last two weekends, their last taste of international competition ahead of the European Aquatics Championships next month in London.

World Series 2016 in Windsor

Olympic bronze medallist Tom Daley (Dive London) and his partner Dan Goodfellow (Plymouth) secured their third medal and second consecutive silver of the World Series in the 10m Synchro.

The pair scored 441.84 to secure silver behind China’s Lin Yue and Chen Aisen (482.01), sealing their medal with an impressive 93.24 for their Front 4 ½ Somersaults tucked in the penultimate round of dives.

Plymouth’s Tonia Couch and City of Leeds teenager Lois Toulson also secured their third medal of the 2016 World Series in Canada, as they took bronze in the 10m Synchro.

The pair had a nervous start to the final, scoring 48s for their two required dives, before dropping to fifth after their third dive – Forward 3 ½ Somersaults piked – received just 57.60.

But the English pair recovered in the final two rounds, recording 80.64 for their final Inward 3 ½ Somersaults tucked, to land bronze on 310.68, safely ahead of Malaysia’s Pandelela Rinong Pamg and Leong Mun Yee in fourth on 284.52.

In the individual events, Daley added to his synchro silver with bronze in the 10m Platform, finishing on 536.50 behind China’s Chen Aisen (590.15) and Qiu Bo (571.25).

Daley added to his silver medal earlier in the weekend, claiming a brilliant bronze in the 10m Platform Individual, finishing behind two Chinese athletes, Aisen Chen and Bo Qiu who took gold and silver respectively. Daley’s best was a score of 99.90 for his Front 4 1/2 Somersaults tucked, eventually winning his bronze medal with an overall score of 536.50.

City of Leeds’ Jack Laugher narrowly missed out on a fourth British medal in the 3m Springboard, finishing in fourth place on 491.70, while in the 3m Synchro, Laugher and Leeds training partner Chris Mears finished fifth on 399.21.

World Series 2016 in Kazan

The GB diving team then headed to Kazan, the venue for last year’s World Championships, for the fourth and final leg of the 2016 FINA Diving World Series, where they added another four medals to their tally for the competition.

Daley and Goodfellow picked up the team’s first medal of the weekend as they grabbed bronze in the 10m Synchro.

The duo improved on their tally from Windsor to score 442.59 and join pairs from China (485.67) and Ukraine (450.87) on the podium.

Laugher and Mears followed their teammates’ success later in the day to seal silver in the 3m Synchro.

Their best dive came in the sixth and last round of the final; a score of 88.92 for their Front 4 ½ Somersaults tucked boosting them from fifth up into second with a total score of 423.24, just 14.52 points behind Russia’s Ilya Zakharov and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

In women’s 10m Platform, Couch put on a phenomenal show to lead until the very last dive, when Ren Qian of China pulled narrowly ahead to win gold on 367.35 to Couch’s 365.90.

Soooooo…. This just happened … SILVER ? pic.twitter.com/ZqQYu9ZO3Z

— tonia couch (@toniacouch) 23 April 2016

Daley ensured the Brits finished their World Series campaign on a high in the final session of the competition, claiming the team’s third silver medal of the weekend.

The 21-year old put in a consistent performance to maintain second place for five out of the six rounds in the final, saving his best dive for last; a score of 104.40 for his Back 3 ½ Somersaults piked handing him a final score of 554.60, behind the near-faultless Chen Aisen (572.40) of China.

Image credit: Tom Daley Twitter