Five medals for British divers at Diving World Cup Super Final

Great Britain’s divers rounded out a successful Diving World Cup with two silvers and three bronze medals at the Diving World Cup Super Final in Xi’an, China.

Ten British divers headed to China following their strong results in the opening two legs as they continue their preparation for both next month’s Speedo Aquatics GB Diving Championships and the Paris Olympic Games in the summer.

Three of the five medals came on the first of the three day competition with the pair of Tom Daley and Noah Williams opening up the competition with silver in the Men’s 10m Platform final.

The duo – who took gold in the previous leg in Berlin – added silver to their collection thanks to a total score of 440.37.

They were one of only two pairs to score more than 400 points with China’s Hao Yang and Junjie Lian claiming the title with 472.92 points.

The Brits always kept themselves within touching distance of gold medal position throughout the contest and after the event, Daley told World Aquatics that he believes there’s more to come as they head towards Paris.

He said: “There are some little things that we can improve on our last dive because it wasn’t the best that we’ve done it, but everything is getting a lot more consistent. Now I’m looking forward to getting into the next competition.

“The audience is always great in China that everybody turns out and shows up. And it’s really nice to be able to dive in front of a huge crowd.”

Consistency key for Laugher and Harding

Also taking to the podium on the opening night were Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding who completed the set with bronze in China.

They added to their gold in Berlin and silver in Montreal with bronze this time around to come away with a medal of each colour in the Men’s 3m Synchronised Springboard events.

The duo scored 403.89 points and saved their best dive for last – nailing a Forward 4 ½ Somersault Tuck for 84.36 points.

Laugher noted the consistency of his and Harding’s performance throughout 2024 so far with the 2016 Olympic champion pleased with how they’ve performed throughout the events.

He said: “Anthony and I are always very happy to come to China. We love diving here, and we really appreciate China for hosting this event. We had silver, gold and now bronze from the three stops in World Cup. We’re very pleased with how we’ve done.”

A silver medal in the Mixed Team event followed to round out the opening day with Daley back on the boards alongside Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, Dan Goodfellow and Grace Reid.

The British quartet put in a consistent display across the six rounds to finish 16 points clear of Australia to secure another silver medal.

Daley and Reid’s Forward 3 ½ Somersault Pike in round three, particularly impressed earning the highest score of the round from the 3m board with a score of 74.40.

China’s team of Olympic champions – Wang Zongyuan and Chen Yuxi – and world champions – Yang Hao and Chen Yiwen –were ultimately too strong, finishing on 500.75 points for gold.

Britain were second with 456.75 and Australia third on a total of 440.20.

Laugher and Spendolini-Sirieix win individual bronzes

Both Laugher and Spendolini-Sirieix returned to the podium with individual bronzes to round out the British medal haul.

Laugher held second place behind China’s Wang Zongyuan – who’s unbeaten since Tokyo – in the Men’s 3m Springboard for the majority of the competition.

However a slight mistake on Laugher’s final dive – a Back 3 ½ Somersault Tuck – allowed Mexico’s Osmar Olivera Ibarra to sneak in to take silver.

That meant Laugher had to settle for bronze but put in a strong performance overall to earn 472.85 points.

Speaking after the event, Laugher told World Aquatics: “I am very happy to compete in China in front of this huge crowd. However, I felt tired at last and made a mistake. I hope I can build up good form and win a medal at the Paris Olympics.”

Goodfellow wasn’t too far behind Laugher, finishing in fifth place on 444.70.

Spendolini-Sirieix completed the British medal count to finish third in the Women’s 10m Platform behind the Chinese pair of Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan.

The teenager put in an assured performance where her podium place never really looked in doubt.

She finished around 27 points ahead of Spain’s Valeria Antolino and Canada’s Caeli McKay to make it three individual medals from three at the 2024 World Cup.

The Chinese duo battled it between each other for gold with Yuxi coming on top but Spendolini-Sirieix will be happy to have made the podium once again.

Elsewhere, Kyle Kothari and Williams just missed out on the medals in the Men’s 10m Platform.

The British pair finished fourth and fifth respectively in the final in Xi’an with both divers less than 20 points off the medals.

Kothari scored 478.30 with Williams on 476.10 while China’s Hao Yang won gold (557.60) ahead of Japan’s Rikuto Tamai (531.55) and Mexico’s Randal Willars-Valdez (492.50).

Scotland’s Grace Reid also finished sixth in the Women’s 3m Springboard. You can watch every dive back from the competition on the World Aquatics YouTube channel whilst you can find all the results on the World Aquatics website.