Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding mark new partnership with national title

Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding marked their competitive debut together with a gold medal on the opening day of the British Diving National Cup.

The City of Leeds duo triumphed in the Men’s 3m Synchro Springboard as they led from start to finish at the Plymouth Life Centre.

Laugher and Harding scored 418.98 with the highlight of their set being their last dive.

Their forward 2½ somersaults, three twists in pike scored a huge 91.26 points and left them 54.87 clear of silver medallists Ross Beattie and James Heatly.

The Edinburgh Diving Club pair finished with a total of 364.11, with Leon Baker and Hugo Thomas, representing Southampton Diving Academy and Dive London Aquatics Club, taking the bronze on 348.39.

Reid saves best for last

Grace Reid saved her best until last to take top spot in the extremely competitive Women’s 1m Springboard final.

The Dive London Aquatics Club 25-year-old scored an impressive 62.40 for her forward 2½ somersault in pike position to earn the gold medal with a total of 274.15.

It left her 4.55 points ahead of City of Leeds Diving Club’s Katherine Torrance, who had topped the leaderboard in the preliminary round to qualify for the final.

Torrance bettered her morning points total as she scored 269.60, finishing with two strong final dives. 

Reid’s Dive London team-mate Scarlett Mew Jensen, who had just sneaked into the final in eighth place, took the bronze medal with a score of 264.10.

Mew Jensen was leading heading into the final round, despite struggling with a slight shoulder injury.

But Reid showed her true class as she became the only diver to score more than 60 points for a single dive to top the podium.

Heatly impresses

In the Men’s 1m competition, Heatly put on an assured performance to comfortably seal the gold medal.

The Edinburgh diver amassed an impressive 422.00 points from his six dives to finish 20.85 ahead of City of Sheffield’s Jordan Houlden.

Heatly went to the top of the rankings after round two and was almost guaranteed the top spot after scoring an impressive 78.20 for his fifth dive – an inward 2½ somersault in pike.

Houlden’s score of 401.15 was enough to see off a late challenge for the silver medal from Dive London Aquatics Club’s Matthew Dixon, who was third on 397.00.

Dixon finished with two 70-point plus dives but it proved to be too little, too late and he had to settle for the bronze.

Angus and Gemma victorious

Edinburgh Diving Club’s Angus Menmuir and Gemma McArthur were victorious in the Mixed 10m Synchro.

They scored 264.51 to finish 5.01 ahead of the Dive London Aquatics Club duo Hannah Newbrook and Maxwell Spencer, who took the silver medal with a total of 259.50.

Aidan Heslop and Ruby Thorne, of Plymouth Diving Club and Dive London Aquatics Club respectively, were third on 251.43.

In the Women’s 10m Synchro, Robyn Birch and Emily Martin were the only competitors and finished with a score of 304.86.

Their highest scoring dive was their fourth, an inward 3½ somersaults in pike, which earned them 73.90 points.