Tom Daley returns to action as English divers shine at British National Cup

Great Britain’s top divers completed their calendar year at the British National Cup in Edinburgh where Olympic champion Tom Daley made his return to diving action.

Daley – who won 10m Platform gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics alongside Matty Lee – teamed with Noah Williams to win the Men’s 10m Synchronised Platform crown in Scotland.

The duo were the first onto the boards for the four day competition at the Royal Commonwealth Pool where they scored an impressive 422.46 for their six dives.

Their best effort – a Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck – came in the final round, earning them 93.24 to finish ahead of Edinburgh’s Angus Menmuir and Shane McConnell.

Speaking after the event Daley told British Swimming: “It felt really weird to come back [to the sport], I felt quite shy in a way to get back into it, because I had been part of that team for so long, and then to step out and see how things had changed, it felt weird and different.

“But it is really nice to be back. I feel really happy, I’m enjoying it and that’s the main thing.”

Noah added: “It’s a lot of fun, I’m very happy [with where we’re at]. The last week and a half training with Tom has gone really well.

“We didn’t put in our best performance today, but it would still be good enough to do that at a World Champs, so I’m happy with everything right now.”

Williams added to that success with an individual gold in the Men’s Platform final.

He came out on top in a back and forth final with Kyle Kothari with the Dive London duo trading places throughout the competition.

But it was the consistency of Williams that gave him the edge with five 80+ point dives before a massive 105.45 in the final round for his Forward 4 1/2 Somersault Tuck saw him win the gold with a total of 520.45.

Kothari broke the 90 point barrier for two of his dives as he hit a total of more than 500 for the first time to finish as the runner up.

Andrea’s double

Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix received tens from the judges as she soared to Women’s Platform gold.

Her final dive of a Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 1 1/2 Twists Pike scored 89.60 from the judges to see her hit an overall score of 393.50.

Spendolini-Sirieix’s synchro partner Lois Toulson was second with 340.20 whilst Eden Cheng completing the podium with 314.45.

It marked both Spendolini-Sirieix and Toulson’s second medal of the week after they teamed for gold in the Women’s Platform Synchronised final on the opening day.

The duo scored a new personal best as a pair with a tally of 317.10 for the world silver medallists.

Another pair of world silver medallists who returned to the top step in Edinburgh were Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding.

The duo – who secured a second successive world silver in the summer – closed out their year with a score of 437.88 points.

James Heatly and Ross Haslam teamed up for second place whilst the young duo of Connor Lano and Todd Geggus claimed British bronze.

City of Sheffield diver, Haslam, did become champion in the Men’s 1m Springboard however.

A composed performance saw the European Games gold medallist secure the title with 400.70.

Just 5.70 points separated the top three in the Men’s 3m Springboard final.

Daniel Goodfellow, Jack Laugher and Jordan Houlden put on an incredible show for the crowd as they battled it out for the national title.

Goodfellow and Laugher traded places throughout the competition but with the decisive final dive, London’s Goodfellow scored 84.60 from the judges to edge out Laugher for the title by just 1.45 points.

Houlden significantly closed the gap on the pair in the final two rounds but he had to settle for bronze despite his efforts with a final score of 470.30.

The final winning total was 476.00.

You can find all the results from the competition on DiveRecorder and you can see all the medallists for the event with our roll of honour below.

Image credit: Bruce White/Scottish Swimming