Olympic hopefuls and European medallists on British Diving World Class Programme

A group of 22 English divers been named on the British Diving World Class Programme for the 2019/20 season, in a significant boost heading into an Olympic year.

British Swimming have placed eight divers on the Podium Programme, with Eden Cheng, Tom Daley, Daniel Goodfellow, Jack Laugher, Matty Lee, Grace Reid, Katherine Torrance and Lois Toulson all expected to challenge for medals at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In addition, 15 English athletes are on the Podium Potential Programme, including Commonwealth Games medallist James Heatly and European medallists Phoebe Banks, Emily Martin, Matthew Dixon, Noah Williams, Eden Cheng, Anthony Harding and Jordan Houlden.

British divers won six medals at the LEN European Diving Championships in August, showcasing the depth of diving in the country.

A total of 25 athletes will receive financial assistance from UK Sport, as well as training and competition opportunities over the next year.

They will be supported by British Diving’s performance staff as they compete on the domestic and international stages.

British Diving National Performance Director, Alexei Evangulov, said: “This year, the British Diving team participated in 11 senior and three junior events, each marked by great performances shown individually and as a team.

“British divers brought home medals from every single competition, which shows that the quality of diving in this country has risen and I’m absolutely delighted by the strength and depth of divers selected onto the programme as we go into the most important year of the quadrennial – the Olympic year.

“These performances have created a brilliant platform on which to build forward through 2020, as we ensure the support of our athletes’ needs is in place to retain Great Britain’s standing as one of the top diving nations in the world.”olympics