Silver finish in 3m synchro is viewed as a positive by recovering Laugher

HARROGATE diver Jack Laugher insisted he is not disappointed with a European Championship silver medal and is simply happy to be diving at all.
Harrogate's Jack Laugher and Chris Mears pictured during the men's 3m synchronised springboard final (Picture: Ian Rutherford/PA Wire).Harrogate's Jack Laugher and Chris Mears pictured during the men's 3m synchronised springboard final (Picture: Ian Rutherford/PA Wire).
Harrogate's Jack Laugher and Chris Mears pictured during the men's 3m synchronised springboard final (Picture: Ian Rutherford/PA Wire).

Laugher struggled to recover from ankle surgery last November, leaving him almost completely unable to dive backwards off the springboard just weeks before heading to the Commonwealth Games.

Even so Laugher has still managed to hoover up medals at every competition he has entered including three more at the European Diving Championships.

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Having already pouched two golds, Laugher, alongside Chris Myers, was unable to make it a golden hat-trick as the pair were edged out by Russians Evgenii Kuznetsov and Ilia Zakharov in the 3m synchro.

Laugher admits times have been tough this year, but with plenty of shiny metal already in his luggage the 23-year-old has high hopes for the future.

He said: “I feel I’m in fantastic shape at the moment. Chris is showing some extremely good things and we’ve both been battling injury this year.

“I had an operation on my ankle and Chris has had his back problems for several years now.

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“At one point I didn’t think I would even dive again and the same for Chris as well.

“It’s been a hard year, but I think it goes to show that British Diving have a fantastic set-up.

“We’ve done amazing and we’re extremely pleased with that. We’ve just got to keep moving forward and onto 2020.”

Laugher and partner Chris Mears went into the 3m synchro event as Olympic champions, but the Britons were pipped on the final dive at the Royal Commonwealth Pool by Kuznetsov and Ilia Zakharov – who also denied them world gold last year.

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Meanwhile, Kat Torrance is keen to draw a line under her 1m springboard performance and focus on her final event at the championships.

The 19-year-old City of Leeds diver qualified for the final by 0.45 of a point before racking up a total of 228.90 in the showpiece event, finishing tenth.

Torrance goes again in the 3m synchro platform alongside Grace Reid and all of her attention is now focused on finishing on a high.

The teenager said: “I’m really disappointed with my score. I know it shouldn’t have been that low and I shouldn’t have been in that position, but that’s sport and that’s life, there’s nothing I can do about it now.

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“I need to prove myself in the next event and get myself back on top.

“If I only came here and produced that performance I’d be very upset.

“It’s a completely different event and a completely new thing, so it’s the ideal moment to reset my mind and go into it thinking positively.”

Torrance enjoyed success at the start of the year as she took silver at the Commonwealth Games in the 3m synchro alongside Alicia Blagg. But she has endured an inconsistent season, giving her plenty of food for thought going into 2019

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She said: “It’s had it’s ups and down. I think it’s had more downs than ups, but that’s diving for you. I need to push it to one side and get on with the next season.”

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