A huge year in diving is about to begin at the first FINA Diving World Series of 2018 and there’s plenty of British attention in Beijing.
Two-time Olympic bronze medallist Tom Daley is part of a five-strong team heading to China for the first leg of the series.
Daley took bronze in the 10m platform 12 months ago in Beijing and will go again in the same event – this time as world champion.
And the 23-year-old will be joined by fellow bronze medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympics Daniel Goodfellow in the 10m synchronised platform, while the 10m mixed synchro will see Matty Lee and Lois Toulson team up.
World Championship silver medallist Grace Reid is the final Great Britain representative and the 21-year-old will go in the 3m springboard, as well as joining Daley for the mixed 3m synchro.
All five divers will also be heading to the second World Series leg in Fuji, Japan, as the preparation for the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast intensifies. But Great Britain’s gold medallists from Rio, Jack Laugher and Chris Mears, will miss the first two legs of the World Series. Laugher claimed gold in the 3m springboard in Beijing last year and teamed up with Mears to take silver in the 3m synchronised springboard.
The 23-year-old underwent ankle surgery last November but Laugher is determined to get himself fit and firing for the Commonwealth Games, which start on April 13.
“Training is going alright, I am trying to do everything that I can, just working with my physios and the doctors to get myself in the best possible shape I can physically be,” Laugher said.
“There are still a few weeks to go to the Commonwealth Games and I am going to give it my all there to do my country proud.
“Everyone is trying to get me in the best shape possible and I think I have got a very good shot of being in great shape going into the Games. “I am training really, really hard in the pool and looking in brilliant shape for the stuff I can do, so it is a bit of a difficult one, but I really want to go out there and do my best.”
And there will be plenty of British representation on the Gold Coast with England taking 13 divers, Scotland four and Wales one. Laugher will be out to defend the 1m springboard gold he won four years ago in Glasgow, as well as his 3m synchro springboard alongside Mears.
And Daley, who claimed gold in the 10m platform four years ago, will be going for three in a row after striking gold at Delhi 2010.
A busy year continues in August with the European Aquatics Championships taking place in Glasgow as Great Britain look to finish top of the medals table, as they did two years ago in London. Sportsbeat 2018