English divers secure Olympic quota places for synchronised diving

England’s divers have kicked off the 2016 FINA Diving World Cup in style, securing two medals in the synchronised events at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Centre in Rio.

The British team’s results have also secured them a full compliment of four Olympic quota spots for the men’s and women’s 3m and 10m Synchro at Rio 2016.

Plymouth Diving’s Commonwealth silver medallists Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow started the ball rolling, repeating their result from the 2012 World Cup in London by landing bronze in the 10m Synchro.

The pair scored 308.82 to reach the podium, finishing behind China’s world champions Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia on 344.04, and Malaysia’s Cheong Jun Hoong and Pandelela Rinong Pamg on 318.90.

Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow also landed bronze in the 10m Synchro in Rio, securing an Olympic quota place for Team GB in the process.

Having won an uncontested gold on 387.99 at the season-opening National Cup last month, Daley and Goodfellow improved to score 446.40 in the final in Brazil and join pairs from China (456.00) and Germany (448.44) on the podium.

Mears and Laugher fall short of 3m Synchro podium

Chris Mears and Jack Laugher almost bagged a third medal for the British team, finishing fourth in the 3m Synchro.

The City of Leeds divers, who had already secured an Olympic quota place with bronze at last year’s World Championships in Kazan, missed out by just 9.06 points, scoring 400.32 in the final to finish behind pairs from Germany (429.33), China (419.67) and Mexico (409.38) .

Commonwealth champions Alicia Blagg and Rebecca Gallantree were the other English divers in action in Rio, securing an Olympic quota place with a sixth place in the 3m Synchro.

After progressing from the prelims in fourth place, Blagg and Gallantree scored 299.28 in the final, finishing just 8.22 points shy of the podium.

  • Click here to view full results from the 2016 FINA Diving World Cup.
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