Mears and Laugher return with National Cup gold

Chris Mears and Jack Laugher cruised to gold in their first competition since becoming Olympic champions in Rio last summer.

The City of Leeds pair scored 415.02 to win the 3m Synchro event on the first day the British National Cup 2017 in Plymouth.

City of Sheffield brothers Ross and Jack Haslam took silver on 382.14 while James Heatly and Freddie Woodward scored 375.27 for bronze.

But there never looked like being an upset on the cards as Mears and Laugher scored 102.00 for their requireds, then over 74 for all four optionals.

“It’s brilliant to start the season so positively,” said Laugher, who also won the 1m title on the opening day in Plymouth.

“To score 415 is great considering we’re only in February.

“We’ve got a lot of months to go before the World Championships. We’ve got a lot to work on but I think that’s a really positive start.

“It’s daunting coming to the first competition after the Olympics but I’m really happy with how it’s gone.”

Mears added: “There were some nerves. Being announced as Olympic champions definitely shook me up a little bit but I very quickly regathered myself.

“We had a little giggle about it because it obviously brought back some memories.

“It was really good to run our list out again. Everything went well and we know what we need to do now ahead of the rest of the season.”

Men’s 3m Synchro Results

RankNameScore
1Chris Mears & Jack Laugher
(City of Leeds)
415.02
2Ross Haslam & Jack Haslam
(City of Sheffield)
382.14
3James Heatly & Freddie Woodward
(Edinburgh Diving & City of Sheffield)
375.27
4Anthony Harding & William Hallam
(City of Leeds)
336.33
5Oliver Crompton & Ben Sambrook
(City of Leeds)
312.06
  • Click here to head to Dive Recorder for full results.

Toulson and Lee win Mixed Platform gold

City of Leeds pair Lois Toulson and Matty Lee combined to win the Mixed Platform Synchro title in the final event of the day.

Toulson had already won the women’s 10m Synchro crown on day one in Plymouth, combining with her partner from Rio 2016, Tonia Couch.

But while Couch and double Olympic medallist Tom Daley were in opposition in the mixed event, Toulson and Lee put in one of the performances of the day to win gold.

After finishing the two required rounds on 102, Lee and Toulson scored 75.60 for their first required dive, then 78.72 for their fourth and fifth efforts to finish on 335.04.

The pair’s score would have won gold at last year’s European Championships and silver at the 2015 World Championships.

“That was really good,” said Lee. “It was our first time of competing together. Even though we both live in Leeds, we haven’t had much time training together – only two sessions. So I’m really happy to dive that well.”

Mixed Platform Synchro Results

RankNameScore
1Lois Toulson & Matty Lee
(City of Leeds)
335.04
2Tonia Couch & Tom Daley
(Plymouth Diving & Dive London)
304.26
  • Click here to head to Dive Recorder for full results.

Image credit: Nick Hope TV Twitter

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