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Team GB divers test out new Olympic Aquatic Centre at French Diving Open

Team GB divers test out new Olympic Aquatic Centre at French Diving Open

May 13, 2024

Some of England’s top divers tested out the new Olympic Aquatic Centre ahead of the Games in Paris this summer.

Team GB’s recently announced synchro pairs for Paris 2024 travelled to France to check out the new facility and compete in the French Diving Open – one of the test events for the Olympics.

They took on strong teams from a number of nations including China, USA, France and Australia across three days of competition.

The British team came away with three golds and a bronze medal across the events as they gear up for the Speedo Aquatics GB Diving Championships in Birmingham next week.

Britain’s success started with victory for Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding in the Men’s 3m Synchro event.

The win completed a ‘wild 24 hours’ for the duo – who were only officially announced as part of the Olympic lineup a day prior to their gold.

They were the only team to score more than 400 points as they scored 411.66 to storm to the title. France’s Alexis Jandard and Jules Bouyer (383.94) finished in second place with Italian duo Lorenzo Marsaglia and Giovanni Tocci of Italy (378.48) in third.

Speaking to World Aquatics after the win Laugher said: “We had the highs of being announced officially in the Olympic team and then seeing the pool for the first time, so then having to compete made it all a bit of a whirlwind, but this was a really solid result we’ll take a lot of confidence from.”

‘Strong and confident’

Team-mate Harding said he was “super excited” ahead of his senior Olympic debut and ‘very happy’ with their debut in Paris.

“I felt really relaxed today, the crowd was really great and I felt strong and confident and I hope I can bring that again in the summer.”

Day two saw more British medals when Noah Williams took Britain’s only individual medal at the event.

The Commonwealth champion added to his medal haul with bronze in the Men’s 10m Platform where he amassed 449.05 points. He followed China’s Yuan Cao (490.80) and Japan’s Tamai Rikoto (500.45) as he continues his preparation for the Championships in Birmingham next week.

It wasn’t Williams’ only medal of the competition as he teamed with Tom Daley for Men’s 10m Synchronised Platform gold.

The pair looked in strong shape as they look to defend Team GB’s Olympic title in Paris, winning the event by more than 75 points. They scored 453.84 in a strong showing with Ukraine in second place on 375.21.

Great Britain’s final gold went to Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson in the Women’s 10m Synchronised Platform.

The double world championship medal winners added a title in France inside the Olympic pool where they’ll look to reach the podium in once again this summer.

A total of 300.42 was enough to secure them gold ahead of the USA’s Nike Agunbiade and Katrina Young (273.48) with France’s Jade Gillet and Emily Hallifax (258.48)

The group are all back in action in Sandwell next week for the Aquatics GB Diving Championships and you can get your tickets for the event here.

Images: Aquatics GB

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