Final Olympic diving places to be decided at Aquatics GB Championships

The Sandwell Aquatics Centre hosts it first senior national competition since the 2022 Commonwealth Games this weekend, almost two years on from a historic Games in Birmingham.

This time around the final spots for Team GB at the Paris Olympics Games are on the line as Britain’s best divers descend on the pool where Team England divers won 15 medals across five days at Birmingham 2022.

A number of those athletes are back in action this weekend as they look to book one of the individual places in the Team GB squad in Paris.

Team GB have the maximum number of quota spots available in Paris after the teams strong performances across international events, with two divers available to be selected for each of the individual events.

The winning diver in each event will book their spot in Paris, providing they hit the qualification standard, and will join the four synchronised pairs that were pre-selected earlier this month. Any remaining unallocated spots will then be decided by the selection panel

That will give the likes of Noah Williams, Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Jack Laugher an opportunity to represent the nation in both synchronised and individual competition as they look to continue their strong form from recent months.

As well as places in Paris there’s national titles on the line and a chance to be selected for next month’s European Diving Championships in Belgrade.

There’s also a great opportunity for some of the younger divers to take on their more senior counterparts with Team Y diver Libby Mitson, Amelie Underwood and Oscar Willcox all in action across the four days where they’ll gain more valuable experience.

BBC Sport are showing live coverage of all the finals sessions on the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app with the rest of the action available to watch the Aquatics GB YouTube channel.

‘truly top-class diving action’

Looking ahead to the competition, Aquatics GB Associate Performance Director Tim Jones told Aquatics GB: “So many of our divers have cherished memories of this venue from their time at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, when they performed outstandingly in front of a raucous home crowd.

“Two years on, they return to Sandwell for what is a key event in our final selections for the Olympic team heading to Paris in just a couple of months’ time, as well for the group that will contest June’s European Championships in Belgrade – and that will make for some for truly top-class diving action over the next few days.

“Every international competition that British divers have competed in during this Olympic cycle has demonstrated the reasons why our athletes will be pushing each other, as well as themselves on, when they take to the boards in Sandwell.

“Whether it was a record medal haul from this year’s World Championships in Doha, history-making successes for our female divers over the last two World Championships, eye-catching displays at last year’s European Games, continued success at World Junior and European Junior level or even more recent examples at the World Aquatics Diving World Cup Super Final and contests involving senior and junior divers out in Indianapolis and Dresden, our athletes’ commitment and quality in training, as well as the world-class coaches and support staff they work with, is clear for all to see once they step into the arena.”

You can find out more information on the event website with live results on the DiveRecorder website.