Seven Paris Olympic medallists named on diving World Class Programme

Seven Olympic medallists from the Paris Games are amongst the 26-strong list that have been invited on to the Aquatics GB World Class Programme for 2025.

They’ll be looking build on a historic year for British diving, which recorded a clean sweep of synchro medals at last summer’s Olympics and a stunning final-day bronze for Noah Williams in the Men’s 10m Platform.

That gave Team GB there best-ever medal return at an Olympics, five months on from another record-breaking haul of seven at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships,

Amongst the 11 on the podium tier are four-time Olympian Jack Laugher, world champion Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and 3m synchro pair Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen, who started the Team GB medal rush last July.

Jordan Houlden’s fifth-place finish in the Men’s 3m Springboard final in Paris sees him move up from Podium Potential to join the likes of Williams, Lois Toulson and Anthony Harding.

The 2025 Podium Potential tier, meanwhile, features Maisie Bond and Hannah Newbrook, who secured medals at November’s World Junior Championships in Rio de Janeiro, as well as reigning European champions Desharne Bent-Ashmeil, Amy Rollinson and Robbie Lee, among others.

‘Great momentum’

With the World Aquatics Diving World Cup and a senior and junior European Diving Championships on the horizon, as well as the benchmark Singapore World Championships, Matt Ashman, Aquatics GB lead for diving, knows there are plenty of opportunities for this exciting group to make their mark over the course of a busy season.

He said: “Our Aquatics GB diving programme enjoyed immense success on the world’s biggest stages in 2024.

“That gives our athletes and staff great momentum to carry on into the start of the new Olympic cycle and some valuable, top-level competition opportunities coming up, which will give them the chance to compete against the best athletes from across the globe and to test their arena skills in those environments.

“Off the back of such success in Paris, some of our top athletes have had differing lengths of break to refresh and reset, which are fully deserved and will benefit them in the long run.

“It means we are excited to see both how those divers come back in after those breaks, and also how the next generation of diving talent can progress and step up over the coming months.

“That goes for the junior divers contesting next month’s Elite Junior Diving Championships, and then those looking to make a senior mark at the Aquatics GB Diving Championships, with eyes on major senior international representation this year.

“We are also encouraged by the successful transition made in Sheffield, which is due to become an Aquatics GB Performance Centre in the coming weeks, alongside our existing programme in London. There is a strong group of athletes there who have already made a huge impact over recent seasons and who we know will continue to drive each other on to the next level.”

Athletes on either Podium or Podium Potential programme tiers receive opportunities and targeted financial assistance from UK Sport through the World Class Performance Programme’s Athlete Performance Award (APA), as well as benefiting from programme opportunities and targeted support from Aquatics GB and UK Sport, including key competition opportunities and training camp experiences throughout the season, as well as access to comprehensive support from the world-leading Aquatics GB performance and sports science and sports medicine staff.