Reid impresses with eighth place finish

Reid, who is the first woman to reach a 3m Springboard final since 1972, showed her maturity by improving from prelim to semi-final to final and finished with a score of 318.60.

The British Champion has grown in confidence as she took on the world’s best at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre.

Her best dive came in the last round with her Front 2 ½ Somersaults 1 Twist piked which scored a total of 67.50.

She also impressed the judges with her Front 3 ½ Somersaults piked which got a score of 65.10.

Following the the confirmation of the result Reid said: “That was amazing. I loved every second. I’m gutted it’s over to be honest but I loved every second of that from the first day I was up to just now.

“I guess I saved my best until last. That’s the good thing going in on a fresh page and taking each dive at a time, to walk away with that result is just amazing.

“The reverse pike is new for me since Europeans and this year I’ve upped my degree of difficulty. The only reason that’s paying off is because of the confidence that’s come with it – believing in my ability to do the harder dives

“My mum couldn’t watch me dive when I was younger. She never liked me jumping of 10m and I think now she can finally watch me. She was in the crowd tonight and I’m really hoping she watched that otherwise I’m going to sit her down and make her.

“I’m going to enjoy this while it lasts, have a bit of a holiday and then I think it’ll be back to the hard work with my coach Jenny [Leeming] and see where we’re at.

“We’ve put in so much work over the past 13 years and today was a testament to that work we’ve put in.”

The diving continues tomorrow at Rio 2016 with the start of the Men's 3m Prelims including Team GB's Jack Laugher and Freddie Woodward.