Eleven divers have today been named by the British Olympic Association to represent Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Seven of the 11 have competed at Olympic level before with London 2012 bronze medallist Tom Daley, Rebecca Gallantree and Tonia Couch set to make their third appearance at a Games.
Chris Mears, Jack Laugher, Alicia Blagg and Sarah Barrow are the other returning Olympians while Daniel Goodfellow, Lois Toulson, Grace Reid and Freddie Woodward are set to make their Olympic debuts.
Daley and Gallantree head to Rio 2016 on the back off World Championship gold in the team event, a non-Olympic event, at Kazan 2015 – where Daley also took 10m bronze and Laugher claimed 3m springboard bronze as well as synchronised bronze alongside Mears.
That success in Russia was followed by a table-topping performance at this year’s European Championships where Britain took three gold, five silver and three bronze medals.
Today’s announcement brings the total number of selected athletes to 148 from 12 sports with the aquatics team now finalised following the announcement of the 26 pool, two open water and two synchronised swimmers.
The selected athletes are:
Sarah Barrow, 27 from Plymouth – women’s 10m Platform
Alicia Blagg, 19 from Wakefield – women’s 3m synchronised
Tonia Couch, 27 from Plymouth – women’s 10m Platform and 10m synchronised
Rebecca Gallantree, 32 from Chelmsford – women’s 3m Springboard and 3m synchronised
Grace Reid, 20 from Edinburgh – women’s 3m Springboard
Lois Toulson, 16 from Huddersfield – women’s 10m synchronised
Tom Daley, 22 from Plymouth – men’s 10m Platform and 10m synchronised
Daniel Goodfellow, 21 from Cambridge – men’s 10m synchronised
Jack Laugher, 21 from Harrogate – men’s 3m Springboard and 3m synchronised
Chris Mears, 23 from Reading – men’s 3m synchronised
Freddie Woodward, 21 from Sheffield – men’s 3m Springboard
Mark England, Team GB’s Chef de Mission said:
“Today’s selected divers demonstrate the strength in depth the sport continues to enjoy in Britain and with a host of world, European, and Olympic medallists forming the squad for Rio 2016 we’re excited to see them perform in Brazil this summer.
“Each athlete has shown that they are capable of producing dives of the highest quality while under pressure at major events and the squad houses a fine mix of experience and Olympic debutants.
“It’s great to welcome back some familiar faces into the Team GB fold but also see a fresh generation of divers that have stepped up to the mark to qualify for these Olympic Games.”
Diving Team Leader Alexei Evangulov said:
“We have selected a strong team of divers for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games which includes an Olympic medallist and four world medallists. It’s good to see four divers making their Olympic debut too.
“In the last two years we have seen impressive performances from the team to not only win medals at the World Championships in 2015 but also secure all but one of our quota places at the World Cup in February.
“I know that each one of our 11 divers will continue to work hard in the coming weeks to ensure they are in the best shape possible for their competition day in Rio.”
Tom Daley said:
“To have the confirmation that I am going to my third Olympic Games is really exciting. Rio was amazing when we went in February and I can’t wait to go back and see what the pool will look like.
“I’ve really loved competing through the last two years and got really promising results at the World Championships and the European Championships. Working with Jane [Figueiredo] has changed the way I dive and I really can’t wait to be in the Olympic environment again.
“The men’s 10m Platform and Synchro will be tight fields with so many talented athletes and I’m going to do everything I can to ensure I’m at my best for my two events in Rio.”
Tonia Couch said:
“It’s really exciting to be able to say I am officially going to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. This will be my third Olympics and I feel I have learnt so much from both Beijing and London that I can use to my advantage in Rio.
“The pool is great and I loved competing there in February so can’t wait to go back. The Olympics makes everyone step up their game which will be exciting to see.”