Matty Lee and Georgia Ward opened Great Britain’s medal account with an impressive bronze medal in the Team Event at the LEN European Aquatics Championships.
Consistent diving throughout the rounds saw Lee and Ward perform three dives each and finish with a score of 353.85.
Lee’s second dive of the competition an Inward 3 ½ Somersaults Tuck scored 86.40 to put the pair right in the mix for medals. He was the first diver of the competition to score a ten to move them from fourth to second.
Lee said, “It’s a really good start to the competition. I’ve never been in a Team Event before and it’s really good to get things kicked off and blow the cobwebs away for the other competitions later in the week.”
Londoner Ward dove last for Britain performing her Armstand Back 2 Somersaults 1 ½ Twists in free position to score 59.20 and seal the bronze in the process.
Ward said, “That was incredible. It’s fantastic to come away with a medal. This event is incredible. It’s at my home pool as well and we won a medal here for Synchro at the World Series last year.
“So coming away from here with a European medal in the Team Event this year is great. I’ve got three events this week. We’re doing the mixed synchro as well on Saturday so we’ll be back training for that tomorrow and the individual on Friday should be good,” added Ward.
Ahead of Lee and Ward was the Ukrainian pair of Iuliia Prokopchuk and Oleksandr Gorshkovozov who took the silver with 396.40 points.
Russia’s Nadezhda Bazhina and Viktor Minibaev continued to dominate the Team Event winning gold and retaining the European title for a third consecutive year with 413.40.
Swimming news courtesy of British Swimming.
