Great Britain’s Amy Rollinson and
Desharne Bent-Ashmeil claimed their first major honour as a pair by claiming
European Championship synchronised 3m springboard gold.
Team-mate Ross Haslam also topped the
podium at the European Games in Poland following victory in the 1m springboard
event ahead of Frenchman Alexis Jandard and Lorenzo Marsaglia of Italy.
Rollinson and Bent-Ashmeil, who were
fourth at both the 2022 Europeans and Commonwealth Games, found themselves in
last position after the opening round.
However, they impressively fought
back to claim victory with a combined total of 279.90 from their five routines.
It saw them place ahead of previous
leaders and favourites Chiara Pellacani and Elena Bertocchi who took silver at
last year’s Europeans, who were forced to settle for bronze at the 2023 edition
following a total of 273.69.
Germany were the defending champions,
but this was a new line-up for the nation with Olympic bronze medallist Lena
Hentschel now joined by Jana Rother, following the retirement of her former
partner Tina Punzel earlier this year.
They impressed in their major event
debut and a combined score of 276.33 helped them secure silver.
WOMEN’S SYNCHRONISED 3M SPRINGBOARD
REACTION:
GOLD – AMY ROLLINSON – GREAT BRITAIN
"It feels amazing. It feel so
nice after last year’s narrow miss (fourth) just to get back up there and
actually win this year. Last year was getting used to everything and we want to
keep going. We’ve both had different setbacks this year so to get this after
all of those is amzing.”
GOLD – DESHARNE BENT-ASHMEIL – GREAT
BRITAIN
"I’m so proud, I really, really
wanted this. I am just really happy that we were able to pull through and take
back what we wanted."
SILVER – LENA HENTSCHEL – GERMANY
“We are really pleased, it’s our
first Europeans Championships together after my former synchro partner retired.
Now winning the silver medal just means so much to us and we are so happy to
have won the medal today.”
SILVER – JANA ROTHER – GERMANY
“We dove in 2016 at the European
Junior and Junior World Championships so we knew how it felt and it went really
well. Now we’re really good friends and it’s fun. We enjoy every training
session and I’m so glad we could get the silver medal today.”
BRONZE – CHIARA PELLACANI – ITALY
“Honestly, I was really tired after a
long day and we haven’t actually trained together that much so this is really
good for us and we’re really happy."
BRONZE – ELENA BERTOCCHI – ITALY
‘We did just three practice before
the competition, but will do more before Worlds in Japan as we want to try and
get the Olympic place.”
MEN’S 1M SPRINGBOARD FINAL REVIEW:
French diver Alexis Jandard claimed
his first-ever European medal with bronze in the 3m event earlier in the
competition and led the standings in the 1m discipline after three of the six
rounds.
An error in the fourth saw his bid
for gold end, but two solid routines would see him finish with an overall total
of 411.50 points and a strong silver.
Italy’s Lorenzo Marsaglia was one of
the breakthrough stars of the Roma 2022 European Championships, claiming 3m
gold and 1m silver.
The 26-year-old was not quite at his
best in the Polish city of Rzeszów, but after placing in fourth for much of
this 1m final he hauled himself above rival Jules Bouyer of France when it
mattered most, securing bronze with a combined total of 403.90 points.
Britain’s Haslam, who finished fourth
in the 3m event, was struggling in eighth after the opening round but gradually
found his rhythm.
After taking the lead in the fourth
round, he secured gold with the highest-scoring routine of the day – 78.20 for
his inward 2.5 somersault dive – to give him a total of 422.95.
MEN’S 1M SPRINGBOARD REACTION:
GOLD – ROSS HASLAM – GREAT BRITAIN
“I can’t quite believe it. There’s
been a long time I probably thought I wouldn’t get back onto an international
team (after so many injury problems), so the fact I was here was a little
surprising, but it was step one. I’d like to think this is the little stepping
stone I need to keep going now.”
SILVER – ALEXIS JANDARD – FRANCE
“I’m just happy, second medal in the
Europeans, Two medals in the same event makes me so happy. I’m coming back from
injuries with my tendon, so this is a big pleasure to be here and dive, I’m
just happy to do my stuff.”
BRONZE – LORENZO MARSAGLIA – ITALY
“It was very fun. Everyone was doing
great and I enjoyed myself with some music and watching the others. I train
mainly at three meters, but I’m really happy with how I kept it consistent
today and I’m really happy with this medal.”
PHOTO credit: István Derencsény/LEN
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