Aquatics GB select exciting young divers for European Championships

Four young divers will make their senior international debut for Aquatics GB as part of a nine-strong all English team for this month’s European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade.

Leon Baker, Euan McCabe, Hugo Thomas and Tilly Brown will all make their senior international bow for Aquatics GB off the back of recent performances at the Speedo Aquatics GB Diving Championships and a successful America’s Cup campaign.

They’ll join European Women’s 3m Synchro champions Desharne Bent-Ashmeil and Amy Rollinson, who combined to brilliant effect in Poland last year as well as 2023 medalists Ben Cutmore, Matthew Dixon and Robbie Lee, who have already shown their quality on the European stage.

With 24-year-old Dixon the oldest member of the team, the upcoming European Championships will be a valuable opportunity for every British diver involved to gain top-level competition experience in the arena, against elite international rivals, with a primary focus for the team being about continuing the build towards the next Olympic cycle into the 2028 Los Angeles Games and Brisbane 2032 beyond.

The diving programme in Belgrade runs from Monday 17 to Sunday 23 June, with the Mixed Team Event opening proceedings. The Men’s 3m Synchro and Men’s 10m Platform finals close the event on 23rd June.

‘A fantastic opportunity’

Speaking on the selections, Aquatics GB Performance Pathway Lead Diving Jen Leeming said: “This is a team focussing on the future.

“It is a group that blends a number of divers with medal-winning experience at European level and athletes who are making the first step up to the senior international stage, which makes for a really exciting group heading to the event in a couple of weeks.

“We are very excited about exposing this group to senior international competition in Europe and hope they gain valuable experience.

“We know that there will be divers from other countries who are using the European Championships as a stepping stone in their preparations for the Olympics, so the chance for our divers to look to put in their best performances against those competitors and build on what they have been working on with such dedication in training is a fantastic one.”