Divers ready to spring into action in Budapest

25 Jun 2022

The British Diving team are ready to pick up the baton from their swimming and artistic swimming counterparts as the World Aquatics Championships prepare to head into its second week.

With 13 medals up for grabs in contest from individual, synchro and team events across the springboards and platforms, the 14-strong British outfit will be looking to make their mark in the first major international competition since the Olympic Games last summer - and the first World Championships since 2019. 

The first Brits in action on day one of the diving programme on Sunday 26th June will be the new-look springboard synchro pair of Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding, with the City of Leeds Diving Club duo competing in the Men's 3m Synchro prelims from 8am BST. They will hope to be at the top end of the field when the first medals are decided in that final, from 3-4.15pm BST.

Also in action on the day will be Eden Cheng and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix in the opening rounds of the Women's 10m Platform contest. The prelims start at 11am BST, with the semi-final running from 5.30-7.05pm BST and the final scheduled for 6pm BST the following day (Monday 27th June).

Across the eight-day programme, there will be many senior international debuts made. Half of the team are at their first World Championships, with Desharne Bent-Ashmeil, Anthony Harding, Yasmin Harper, Jordan Houlden, Emily Martin, Amy Rollinson and European medallist Spendolini-Sirieix all looking to make an impression at the start of a busy summer of aquatics action. 

Among other interesting moments to look out for from the Duna Arena will be Olympic champion Matty Lee and Noah Williams' first international outing as a pair in the Men's 10m Synchro (28th June), the form of Houlden and triple Olympic medallist Laugher in the Men's 3m Springboard (27th & 28th June), and the new partnership of Dive London Aquatics pair Robyn Birch and Emily Martin in the Women's 10m Synchro (30th June). 

Robyn Birch Emily Martin midair 10m Synchro BDC 2022.jpg
Robyn Birch and Emily Martin are teaming up in the Women's 10m Synchro in Budapest

Birch made her senior World Championships bow at the same Budapest venue half a decade ago, meaning she is the experienced half of her duo with debutant Martin. Still, while Robyn is excited for another World Championships, the synchro focus will be a new thing for her too.

"This will be my third World Championships, but I've only ever done individual before at the World Champs, so for me, this is actually a bit of a different experience of just focusing on the synchro. Emily has said the same, it's much more fun to have someone alongside you to help motivate you and have a bit of fun with it," said Robyn.

"We've been training really hard. Although we've both had a few niggles and injuries, it feels like it's all coming together just at the right time really."

Synchro partner Emily added: "I'm really looking forward to it. I was really pleased to get selected to be on the team, and it's my first World Championships, so that makes it even more exciting. It's so nice to be in the synchro and have someone like Robyn by my side throughout it.

"The atmosphere in camp is really nice. We've got a really nice team on this trip, everyone gets along and it's nice to socialise in the evenings. To be here with the swimmers and the other aquatics athletes, that's also quite nice, to see those other faces." 

You can follow every moment of the divers' World Championships journey. BBC Sport are livestreaming each final on the BBC Sport website and the BBC iPlayer, with every prelim and semi-final also available on the All Aquatics platform. 

To keep up to date with all the results from Budapest, click HERE

Make sure to follow British Swimming's social media channels on InstagramTwitter and Facebook for all the latest updates and behind-the-scenes footage from Budapest.