Courtesy: British Swimming
A British Diving team packed with Olympic, World and European medallists has been selected for February’s World Aquatics Championships in Doha, kick-starting a massive Olympic year in 2024.
The British Diving cohort will look to secure the final three remaining Olympic quota spots – in the Men’s 10m Synchro, and one apiece in the Women’s 3m Springboard and Men’s 3m Springboard – to ensure representation for Team GB across every single event in Paris.
On top of that, every athlete involved will target big performances on the international stage against world-class opposition, coming on the back of a 2023 season that included three Worlds medals and seven at the European Games for the Brits.
All six of those World Championship medallists from Fukuoka will be competing in Doha, as synchro pairings Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding (Men’s 3m Synchro), Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson (Women’s 10m Synchro) and Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen (Women’s 3m Synchro) are all selected.
Dan Goodfellow, Matty Lee, Noah Williams and Kyle Kothari also make back-to-back Worlds teams in the space of eight months, the latter two having been involved in an outstanding Men’s 10m Platform final back in July.
Grace Reid and Ross Haslam became European champions at the European Games earlier this year and will contest the 3m springboard events in Qatar, while Tom Daley will make his return to international competition in British colours for the first time since winning two Olympic medals in Tokyo in 2021, after an impressive showing alongside Williams at the recent British National Diving Cup in Edinburgh.
That competition played a key selection role for Doha 2024, with other highlights including Diving Cup gold across 1m and 3m events for Reid, a huge British record for Spendolini-Sirieix in the Women’s 10m Platform and a thrilling men’s platform event that saw champion Williams and silver medallist Kothari both break through the 500-point barrier.
On the back of that year-closing competition, British Swimming Associate Performance Director Tim Jones is encouraged by where our divers are this early in the season with key Olympic targets to meet at the Worlds.
“It is fair to say that the standard of performance across the four days of competition in Edinburgh was consistently outstanding, and that is demonstrated by the strength of the 13-person team we have selected for the World Championships,” said Jones.
“Our primary focus in Doha is qualifying the remaining Olympic quota spots, which we are confident these athletes are capable of doing – and every diver is preparing brilliantly at this stage of the season to make sure that is the case, with the usual high levels of support from our world-class coaches and support staff.
“Every competition opportunity between now and the Olympic Games is hugely valuable, and that is particularly true of a World Championships that will allow our athletes to test themselves against the strong fields who will ultimately be competing against them in Paris. We have progressed our performances from competition to competition since a memorable campaign in Tokyo – and the focus is on continuing those progressions through Doha and into the Olympic push towards Paris.”
British Diving team for 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar (2nd-10th February 2024):
- Tom Daley, British Diving Performance Centre, London / UCLA (England) – 10m Synchro
- Dan Goodfellow, British Diving Performance Centre, London (England) – Team Event
- Anthony Harding, British Diving Performance Centre, Leeds (England) – 3m Synchro
- Yasmin Harper, City of Sheffield Diving Club (England) – 3m Springboard, 3m Synchro
- Ross Haslam, City of Sheffield Diving Club (England) – 3m Springboard
- Kyle Kothari, British Diving Performance Centre, London (England) – 10m Platform
- Jack Laugher, British Diving Performance Centre, Leeds (England) – 3m Springboard, 3m Synchro
- Matty Lee, British Diving Performance Centre, London (England) – Team Event
- Scarlett Mew Jensen, British Diving Performance Centre, London (England) – 3m Synchro
- Grace Reid, British Diving Performance Centre, London (Scotland) – 3m Springboard
- Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, British Diving Performance Centre, London (England) – 10m Platform, 10m Synchro
- Lois Toulson, British Diving Performance Centre, Leeds (England) – 10m Platform, 10m Synchro
- Noah Williams, British Diving Performance Centre, London (England) – 10m Platform, 10m Synchro
I mean… there were only two duos competing and Daley was originally supposed to dive with Lee, who got sick just before. It was still a solid showing, but I don’t know about “impressive” or how competitive the selection really was if there were only two teams and one was the overwhelming favorite to begin with.