Tom Daley admits he was pleased with the debut run of his new twister dive after reclaiming the national title at the British Championships.
The new dive played its part in an impressive performance that saw Daley score 468.90 points in the prelims before taking the gold medal with a haul of 493.70.
That score was more than enough to finish ahead of Matthew Dixon of Plymouth Diving, who scored 427.15 for silver, and City of Leeds diver Matty Smith, who claimed bronze with 413.10 points.
Daley’s best scoring dive on the day was the front 4 ½ summersault tucked, but with the focus on the first outing of the twister, the Olympic bronze medallist insists he was happy with the outcome.
“My new dive went pretty well actually, it was all there,” he said.
“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, the better it will get.
“I dived pretty well considering it was the first competition I have done in about five months.
“Everything was steady, nothing was amazing but nothing was bad either, and I’m looking forward to building on things in the competitions to come.”
The women’s 3m springboard event was won by Rebecca Gallantree, another City of Leeds competitor, who took the gold medal with a score of 304.20 in the final, with club teammate Katherine Torrance and Plymouth’s Rhea Gayle finishing second and third respectively.
Despite her success, which included a strong performance in the prelims that saw her qualify more than six points ahead of the rest of the field, Gallantree was not totally satisfied with her display.
“My reaction is a little bit mixed right now,” she 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, Katherine is looking great and Rhea pulled out a really good performance.”
© Sportsbeat 2015