Team GB close out European Games with seven diving medals

Team GB’s divers added two more medals throughout the final two days of diving competition at the 2023 European Games.

A superb silver from 18-year-old Robbie Lee headlined the final two days Team GB before Scotland’s Grace Reid added a Women’s 1m Springboard bronze yesterday.

It made it seven medals in total for the British diving team with three golds, two silvers and two bronze medals from their spell in Poland.

Southampton Diving Academy’s Lee stole the show on Tuesday as he claimed a stunning silver in the Men’s 10m Platform final.

It was a stunning comeback performance after some slight errors in the early rounds left Lee in seventh place at the halfway stage.

He soon responded in some style by recording the highest scoring dive of the competition in round four.

His Forward 4 ½ Somersaults Tuck scored an incredible 96.20 points to shoot Lee right up the order and into second place in the standings.

Fellow Team GB Ben Cutmore impressed to lead throughout the early rounds.

All of his first five dives scored more than 70 points apiece as he set his sights on adding to his Synchronised Platform bronze alongside Matthew Dixon earlier in the week.

An unfortunate over-rotation from Cutmore on his final dive saw him drop from the lead to fourth but his performance across the competition showed incredible promise from the 20-year-old.

Lee was third in the standings before his final effort, but in the end Germany’s Timo Barthel snatched the title from the GB pair. The German scored a total of 435.40 with Lee 22 points back in second with 413.20.

Cutmore ended up just 0.45 off Italy’s Riccardo Giovanni for the final podium place as he ended with a final score of 410.75.

‘Excited for the future’

A delighted Lee was happy with his performance but was confident he can be even better in the future.

He said: “It’s very special and I’m so happy.

“First major senior event and to come away with a silver medal is great and knowing I could do a lot more and a lot better is so good as well. I’m very excited for the future.”

Scotland’s Grace Reid picked up Team GB’s final diving medal. She recorded a total score of 266.90 in the Women’s 1m Springboard final to earn bronze in the event with her final dive.

Reid received the highest mark for her last effort with a score of 58.50 to propel herself into the medal places.

Speaking about her performance, she said: “It’s been a really long week; there’s been a lot of competition so I’m really pleased to be at the end of competition and to finish with that result, I’m really happy.

“I think a few days of recovery is probably needed for everyone, but I have plans to be back in training on Monday – we can’t stop and sit still as we’re athletes so we’ll be back training in no time!”

There was almost one last medal for Team GB in the final diving event at the Games.

It was almost another for Ross Haslam as he partnered with James Heatly in the Men’s 3m Synchronised Springboard.

The pair who teamed together to win silver at the Games in 2015 joined forces once again but just missed out on a podium place in fourth.

They were in a strong position after a consistent start to the competition but a restarted dive in the final round cost them two points deductions from each of the judges.

Despite an impressive dive they only scored 69.54 for the effort that saw them drop from second to fourth and finish just 1.5 points off the medal places.

Both divers have still had a strong competition with Haslam winning 1m Springboard gold and Heatly teaming with Reid for silver in the Mixed 3m Springboard.

The teenage pair of Juliette John and Maisie Bond also gained valuable experience in the Women’s 10m Synchronised Platform.

They finished eighth on their European Games debut with a Back 2 ½ Somersaults 1 ½ Twists Pike in the final round their best dive with a score of 62.40.

Full results from the European Games 2023 can be found here.

7⃣ medals
3⃣ golds

What a week in the diving pool 💪#EuropeanGames2023pic.twitter.com/QShGtCDMV0

— Team GB (@TeamGB) June 28, 2023