History makers Lois and Andrea secure synchro silver

16 Jul 2023

Lois Toulson and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix combined to make British Diving history by claiming silver in the Women's 10m Synchro in Fukuoka - as well as securing another Olympic quota spot for Team GB. 

The platform pairing soared on to the podium with five outstanding dives, becoming the first British divers ever to win a World Championship medal in a women's event. 

Sitting second after a couple of nailed required dives to open, Lois and Andrea made their medal-winning intentions clear with their Forward 3 1/2 Somersaults Pike (107B) in round three, which scored 70.20. 

Another 70-point-plus score for their Inward 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (407C) in round four left them on the verge of history - and the duo kept their cool to close out with a brilliant Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 1 1/2 Twists (5253B) that scored them 74.88, their highest score of the final and seeing them end with a final tally of 311.76. China's Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan took the gold, with USA pair Delaney Schnell and Jessica Parratto winning bronze. 

It was a performance and a result that meant so much to both Lois and Andrea, following on from a European title and Diving World Cup silvers in the past year - and it ensures that Paris 2024 quota place is in the bag in this event too.

"I think I can speak for both of us that we are over the moon. Coming into this competition, we both knew that we could do it, but that sometimes makes it worse when you know you can do it," said Toulson.

"But we put in a good performance and we're over the moon! I can't really believe that, I had no idea [being the first British divers to win a women's Worlds medal]. I've been after a world medal for a while now, so to finally come away with one, and next to Andrea with a good performance, it makes all the hard work feel worth it."

Andrea added: "It's incredible. I'm so proud of us, and to see women in sport excelling, proving we can do everything, I am so proud of us.

"It didn't cross my mind when we were competing, I just knew that we had a goal to achieve. We have achieved so many goals - we got the Paris spot, we got more than 300 points, we improved on the prelims and then adding to history is a beautiful moment.

Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix Lois Toulson back dive Women's 10m Synchro final Fukuoka 2023
Spendolini-Sirieix and Toulson perform one of their required dives to open the Women's 10m Synchro final

"We had to put our training on hold because of my exams, so our training has been limited coming into these World Championships, but I'm really proud of the progress we've made - from prelims to final, and from the Diving World Cup events in China and Montreal, all of those. We are on the up and it just gets better every time." 

Earlier in the day, Jordan Houlden had contested the Men's 1m Springboard final, placing eighth overall. 

Jordan had been in good form to qualify third from a packed set of prelims, but he could not quite replicate that in the finale. 

A score of 67.50 points for his fifth-round Reverse 1 1/2 Somersaults 2 1/2 Twists (5335D) was the highlight and showed the quality he will be hoping to carry into Wednesday's 3m Springboard contest, the focus event for himself and Dan Goodfellow at this competition. The City of Sheffield man closed on 382.90 points overall. 

Tomorrow (Monday 17th July) brings more synchronised action, with Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen competing in the Women's 3m Synchro, before Matty Lee and Noah Williams go in the Men's 10m Synchro. 

For full results and all the info on how to watch the rest of the diving programme from Fukuoka 2023, visit our 'What's On?' page.