Harper and Spendolini-Sirieix secure places in Paris at the Aquatics GB Champs

Yasmin Harper and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix have both secured a place in an individual event at the Paris 2024 Olympics after a thrilling Speedo Aquatics GB diving championship.

Taking to Sandwell, the duo hit the required benchmark in the 3m Springboard and 10m Platform respectively to claim both the national title and a place in Paris.

Both divers have already been pre-selected as part of Team GB’s synchronized diving pairs but will now have another chance to medal in France in the individual competition.

Elsewhere, Jack Laugher and Noah Williams won the two men’s individual events to put themselves in the best possible position to win the individual selection.

After an opening night of preliminary action on Thursday, it was Laugher and Spendolini-Sirieix who took the first golds of the competition at Sandwell Aquatics Centre.

Three-time Olympic medallist, Laugher was the first to triumph when he broke the 500-point mark to win gold in the British men’s 3m springboard in a thrilling contest.

Finishing with 90 points for the Back 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck, Laugher’s total of 507.20 meant he finally finished more than 30 points clear at the summit to put himself in strong competition to compete in the individual event that brought him Olympic medals at both Rios. and Tokyo.

It was a brilliant battle behind him, with Jordan Houlden taking the British silver medal.

His final round score of 96.90 points for the Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck from the judges was the highest of the entire competition and saw Dan Goodfellow move into second place.

In the end, Goodfellow had to settle for bronze, just behind Houlden with a total of 471.60. Ross Haslam (457.25) and Matthew Dixon (451.05) also impressed to round out the top five.

Speaking about the win, Laugher told Aquatics GB: “It was a massive final. I’m so happy to be a part of it and it shows how strong British diving is at the moment – ​​we’ve got four or five lads in there who are going up and you make one little mistake and you’re completely out of it.

“Great to be a part of”

“It was a very competitive final, lots of big dives, lots of big scores and just a really good experience to be a part of.

“It’s the second time over 500 this year for me – I got 506 in Canada at the World Cup of Diving, then 507 here today, and both still with little mistakes here and there.

“I’m really excited to already be in the Olympic team with Anthony and I hope today in my final that I proved myself and hopefully I can get that individual Olympic spot as well. It was extremely important that I put in a good performance today, after yesterday I wasn’t quite at my best and I think I showed that.”

Laugher and Anthony Harding also continued their push towards their Olympic final in the synchronized event on 2 August.

The City of Leeds duo produced a superb Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck for 86.64 to close with 421.11 points and take the British title again.

Behind them, youngsters Hugo Thomas and Leon Baker teamed up and showed promise for the future.

Their best dive was a Forward 3 1/2 Somersaults Pike, which earned them a 71.60 en route to silver.

A scintillating women’s 10m platform final followed, which saw Spendolini-Sirieix seal her Olympic berth for the individual event in Paris with another top performance.

She finished with 363.70 points overall with an outstanding Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 1 1/2 Twists Pike earning 8.5 and nine from the judges to see her top of the leaderboard.

The score was well above the 320-point threshold as part of the selection criteria and, combined with her preliminary score and British title, secured that Olympic spot.

The silver medal went to her synchro partner Lois Toulson, who finished with 335.90, with Eden Cheng completing the podium with 327.75.

Reflecting on her win, Andrea told Aquatics GB: “I’m so happy. It’s been a long way to Paris but I’m so happy I booked those tickets and I give glory to God and I just want to thank my family, my coach and the National Lottery support for helping us funded athletes and just everyone those who supported me on my journey. I just want to enjoy the summer and I can’t wait to get there.

“Honestly, I thought that final dive didn’t go as well as it did, in practice it didn’t go as well as I would have liked, but again all the glory to God, I was just praying ‘I just need a little strength , I just need some guidance,” and you know that God always delivers. I was really happy and having my family – my mum, Ben (Cutmore), Desharne (Bent-Ashmeil) and the crowd and my coach to support me means everything.”

Spendolini-Sirieix and Toulson also won the British 10m synchronized platform title with 308.16 as they continued their preparations for Paris.

Harper adds an individual event to her Olympic debut schedule

City of Sheffield diver Yasmin Harper ensured her Olympic debut also included an individual event with a stunning performance in the Women’s 3m Springboard in Birmingham.

The World Championship finalist took control in the opening round and kept both consistency and composure to hold off Grace Reid and claim the crown.

A stunning Reverse 2 1/2 Somersaults Pike (305B) in the fourth round worth 73.50 helped Yasmin to a total of 326.10, well over the required final score for nomination to the Olympics.

“Also, this one is special (like the synchronized selection), it means so much to me. To be able to do that on the day and be there diving, and afterwards to know that I’m going to be able to compete individually at the Olympics is really special,” she said.

“Grace is a veteran in the event and she’s amazing, she really knows how to apply pressure. So it was great to have her there, putting that on me and seeing how I could handle that, so I’m really pleased. You always need that because the pressure never ends, it just keeps coming, more and more!”

Behind Harper, two-time Olympian Reid won British silver to put herself in contention to play a third straight Games, with Amy Rollinson just beating her long-time partner Desharne Bent-Ashmeil for bronze.

However, they came back together on the final day when they joined forces to win the British Women’s 3m Synchronized title.

The Dive London duo scored 266.10 to finish ahead of Maya Kutty and Tilly Brown’s final score of 232.20.

Williams ends the competition with gold

World Championship medalist Noah Williams finished the competition with British gold in the men’s 10m platform.

The result puts him in prime position to compete in that event at Paris 2024, with Commonwealth Games medalist Kyle Kothari winning silver and Robbie Lee bronze.

Williams recovered well from a third-round drop to claim first place with a sensational Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck that scored one of only two 10s on the weekend and added 99.90 points to his overall score of 473 ,20.

“It meant a lot. The competition didn’t go too well, but sometimes that’s how it is, everyone has off days. I think that was it today, but to be able to hold my nerve and come out on top means a lot to me,” he said Noah – who will travel to train with timing partner Daley in Los Angeles later this week – of his victory.

“Sometimes I like to enjoy watching and seeing what happens, but after I broke my third dive, I decided I needed to focus on myself, so after that, I ignored everyone else, and this seemed to work for me.

“I’m really happy. Going into this, even though I think I had less pressure than the other guys because I’m already going to Paris in synchro, my idea was that if I have two events, hopefully I can do well in synchro and then enjoy it individually – so let’s see if it works!”

Double World Championship finalist Kothari took the silver medal thanks to a strong finish on his list.

After a difficult performance in the finals, Kyle won his closing Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 2 1/2 Twist Pike (5255B) to score eight from the judges and earn 86.40 points, finishing with 408.30.

Watch every session from this Speedo Aquatics GB Diving Championships on the Aquatics GB YouTube channel or BBC iPlayer.You can see all scores on DiveRecorder.