Williams wins out in platform finale to Aquatics GB Diving Champs

26 May 2024

Noah Williams triumphed in a tense Men's 10m Platform final to bring the curtain down on the 2024 Speedo Aquatics GB Diving Championships. 

After a stunning prelims display that brought a 500-plus points total, Noah could not quite recreate the same form to smash through that barrier in the final - but two sensational dives to close things out ensured he was crowned British champion and put himself in prime position to compete in that event at the Olympic Games this summer. Kyle Kothari claimed silver, with Robbie Lee taking bronze.

World Championship medallist Williams - already selected for Team GB as part of the synchro pairing nominations, alongside Tom Daley in the Men's 10m Synchro - started well, then recovered from a drop on his third-round Reverse 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (307C) to finish with 86.40 points for his Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 2 1/2 Twists Pike (5255B) in round five, and a sensational Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (109C) in round six that scored one of only two 10s across the weekend and tallied 99.90 points towards his overall score of 473.20.

"It means a lot. The competition didn't go too well, but sometimes that's how it is, everyone has off days. I think that's what today was, but managing to hold my nerve and come out on top, it means a lot to me," said Noah - who will travel to train alongside synchro partner Daley in Los Angeles later this week - on his victory. 

"I sometimes like to enjoy watching and seeing what's going on, but after messing up my third dive, I decided I had to focus on myself, so after that, I pretty much ignored everyone else, and that seemed to work for me.

"I'm really happy. Going into this, even though I guess I had less pressure than the other boys because I'm already going to Paris in the synchro, my idea was that if I have two events, I can hopefully do well in synchro and then enjoy individual - so let's see if that works out!" 

Behind Williams, double World Championship finalist Kothari took the silver medal, thanks to a strong finish to his list. 

After a difficult performance in the final, Kyle nailed his closing Back 2 1/2 Somersaults 2 1/2 Twist Pike (5255B) to score eights from the judges and earn 86.40 points, finishing on 408.30. 

Kyle Kothari family celebrate AGB Diving Champs
Kyle Kothari's family celebrate in the stands

That put him just above Lee, the youngster who began his final with three solid 72-plus-point dives, including tallying 77.55 for his third-round Back 3 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (307C). Sitting second heading into the final round, Robbie unfortunately could not stick the entry for his Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (109C), ultimately ending with bronze on 397.35 and an overall display that showed the top-class future he has in the sport over the coming years.

The final day of competition at Sandwell began with the Men's 3m and Women's 3m Synchro finals, as Olympic-bound duo Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding continued their push towards their Games final in that event on 2nd August. 

The City of Leeds pair opened strongly on their requireds and were largely consistent from there on in, landing their Forward 2 1/2 Somersaults 2 Twists Pike (5154B) for a score of 80.58 third up and also producing a superb execution on their closing Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (109C) for 86.64, helping them close on 421.11 points and take the British title again. 

Behind them, youngsters Hugo Thomas and Leon Baker teamed up and showed their promise for the future with some strong diving, including an impressive Forward 3 1/2 Somersaults Pike (107B) to finish up, scoring 71.60 to close out for silver on 336.96. 

In the Women's 3m Synchro, Dive London duo Desharne Bent-Ashmeil and Amy Rollinson won out over Tilly Brown and Maya Kutty. Bent-Ashmeil and Rollinson scored 266.10 overall across their two required and three optional dives, the highest-scoring of the latter coming in round three, as they earned 64.80 points from the judges for their Back 2 1/2 Somersaults Pike (205B).

Brown and Kutty took silver with 232.20 points, with Ellen Gillespie and Clara Kerr winning bronze with 202.47 to their name. 

"It's great, I've got good memories of being here at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, and obviously it's just nice to back those memories up with some more positivity from this weekend," said Rollinson after their medal presentation.

"Considering how much we've trained, we train together once a week or so, it's been good to put those dives together on competition day, with the timing going well. There are individual things we know we need to improve on, but we've got time to work on those."

Amy Rollinson Desharne Bent-Ashmeil crowd wave w/ bucket hats AGB Diving Champs 2024
Amy Rollinson and Desharne Bent-Ashmeil wave to the crowd before winning Women's 3m Synchro gold

Bent-Ashmeil added: "I think I made little silly mistakes in my individual, which I've been really working on in my training. My training has been going well, but obviously competition and training aren't the same, so it's just about learning to get in my competition headspace.

"It was really nice to end on synchro - it's a very comfortable event, a very fun event. There are still some little mistakes that I can clean up on, but we've got training for that."

Watch back every session from this Speedo Aquatics GB Diving Championships on the Aquatics GB YouTube channel or on the BBC iPlayer.