Cutmore and Dixon dive to synchro bronze

Ben Cutmore and Matthew Dixon added to Team GB’s diving medal haul with bronze in the Men’s Platform Synchro. The duo were especially delighted to break onto the podium having only been paired up together in recent weeks, and came into their first ever competition on limited training specifically as a synchro partnership.

However, quickly settling into their diving list, Cutmore and Dixon showcased the ability to combine the force of their individual talents and in the third round delivered the pick of their dives - a polished Inward 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (407C) for 77.76 points, which firmly helped them build towards a final tally of 372.69 and round out the podium places behind pairings Ukraine and Italy.

Reacting to the pairs bronze medal performance, Dixon said: “It means loads, it’s our first competition together - we haven’t done much training and for our first competition to get a bronze medal is great.

“We both know we can do the individual dives, so as long as we communicated well to take off at the same time that would set the foundation [for a good performance].”

Commenting on the opportunity to compete for Team GB at the European Games, Cutmore said:

“I think it’s an honour really because our national championships which were a few weeks ago were really tough individually and the synchro teams were formed around those selections.

“To get put together with Dixon for the synchro is an achievement for me because I looked up to this kid when I was ten years old, so to be diving with him now is quite exciting for me.”

Meanwhile both the Men’s and Women’s 3m Springboard contests took place across the weekend diving programme, with Ross Haslam and Grace Reid topping their respective morning preliminaries.

Haslam was joined by Dixon in their final, and the two British men both delivered strong scores on variations of a forward somersault dive among their individual efforts but had to settle for fourth and sixth overall.

Desharne Bent-Ashmeil also flew the flag for Great Britain in the Women’s 3m Springboard finishing sixth, on place behind her teammate Reid in fifth.

In the Mixed Platform final Masie Bond and Noah Penman made their international senior debut, posting a score of 265.08 across five rounds of dives to place fifth after closing out their list with a well executed Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 1 1/2 Twists Pike (5253B).

Looking for live streaming, schedules and results? Find out how to follow the European Games here.