Tom Daley returned to Plymouth and took back his British title on the final day of the British Gas Championships.
After a performance that saw him lead throughout the prelims he progressed through to the final in top spot with a total of 468.90 points.
The crowd were treated to the competition debut of his new twister dive and his highest scoring dive was the Front 4 ½ Somersaults tucked. He scored 96.20 for the dive.
Daley secured the victory to take home the gold medal with a total of 493.70 points.
“I dived pretty well considering it was the first competition I have done in about five months,” Daley said. “Everything was steady, nothing was amazing but nothing was bad but I’m looking forward to building on that in the competitions to come. My dive, the new twister, went pretty well actually. It was all there. I could have done a little better on some of the elements like getting my entry better but that all comes with a new dive. The more I do it the better it will get. The World Championships is the big event this year. It’s the first opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games so I need to make sure I’m in the best shape but we’ve got the World Series before that so there are lots of chances to practice my new dive and make sure that I am in the best competition shape.”
The silver medal was claimed by 14-year old Matthew Dixon of Plymouth Diving with a final score of 427.15 and in the bronze medal position was Matty Lee (City of Leeds) with a total of 413.10
Rebecca Gallantree (City of Leeds) won the gold medal in the women’s 3m Springboard.
She delivered a strong set of dives during the preliminary rounds, maintaining the top spot and scoring 293.10, more than six points ahead of the rest of the field.
In the final, she missed her second dive but brought it back the third round with her Front 3 ½ Somersaults piked.
She remained in first place and took the gold with a score of 304.20.
“My reaction is a little bit mixed right now,” Gallantree said. “I did two really good dives which I am really happy with but then the other three weren’t so good. The younger divers are coming through really quick. I mean Katherine is looking great who was in second place and Rhea pulled out a really great performance. The depth in women’s Springboard is amazing. Four or five years ago there were a couple of divers at the top and then there was just no one behind but now we’ve got so many girls pushing those big scores and it’s fantastic.”
Katherine Torrance (City of Leeds) won the silver medal with a score of 291.10 and Plymouth’s Rhea Gayle won bronze with a total of 290.30.
Diving News is courtesy of British Swimming.
