TOM Daley may not be at the European Diving Championships but Grace Reid insists his shadow still looms large after she stormed to three-metre springboard gold last night.
The Edinburgh athlete was down in third for much of the final but a stunning last dive catapulted her to the top, denying Great Britain team-mate Alicia Blagg by less than two points.
It was still a British one-two at the Royal Commonwealth Pool and that keeps them top of the medal table – proving that British diving can flourish without Daley, who has taken time off after becoming a father.
Yet Reid, who partners Daley in the mixed three-metre springboard, insists his influence is still being felt and credited him for helping her keep her cool.
“Usually, I have been chasing and snapping at the other girls’ heels but today I qualified in second and I have not been in that position before,” the 22-year-old said. “Tom would have told me to embrace it and I did that. In the past I probably would have been daunted by this.
“The pressure would have affected me and made me more nervous but I did not see being the home favourite as a pressure – it was an asset.
“I had everyone supporting me and that helped me.”
The diving may be taking place over 40 miles away from the rest of Glasgow 2018 but the roar that met Reid’s final score could almost have carried to the SSE Hydro and Strathclyde Country Park.
Gold looked beyond her, with Blagg and Germany’s Tina Punzel battling it out up top, but that pair produced average final dives and a door opened for Reid. The Commonwealth gold medallist did not need a second invitation as she produced a faultless dive to record a 73.50 and beat Blagg by 1.70pts, while Punzel took third.
“I started off well and strong, although not as strong as I would have liked. I knew the back end of the set were really solid for me and I just wanted to give it everything I had and it came off,” she said.
Reid could make it two golds today as she lines up with fellow Scot Katherine Torrance in the mixed three-metre springboard final.
“I was saying earlier that I just want to be done and have a pizza but unfortunately not,” she added. “I have to refocus and the first thing is recovery. Then it’s the women’s synchro.”
Great Britain narrowly missed out on an open water medal in a thrilling 5km mixed relay competition. The quartet of Jazz Carlin, Danielle Huskisson, Toby Robinson and Jack Burnell finished in a time of 52:51.3, just five seconds behind France, who won bronze, the Netherlands taking the gold.
Carlin said: “It’s a bit disappointing to come away with fourth and just miss out on that podium, but we did our best and it’s a shame to have narrowly missed out but we gave it our all. I wanted to get that medal to be honest. It was an exciting race coming into the end.”
Meanwhile in the triathlon mixed relay, Great Britain finished 12th in a time of 1:17:26 as France took gold.
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