ROME - Kyle Kothari and Lois Toulson produced an excellent series of dives to win gold in the 10m mixed synchronised platform diving at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships.

 The pair held their nerve heading into the final round to win Great Britain’s first diving gold on day two of the competition with a score of 300.78 from their five dives.

 They held off strong competition from the Ukrainian duo of Sofiia Lyskun and Oleksii Sereda, who finished in second with 298.59, and the Italians Sarah Jodoin Di Maria and Eduard Timbretti Gugiu, who took home the bronze medal to the delight of the home crowd with 290.28.                    

 The British pair started the competition strongly and were inside a medal position from the very start. They moved into second place on their fourth dive and then took gold in dramatic fashion with a two and half backwards somersault dive with one a half twists in the final round.

 Speaking after to the Italian Insider Kothari said that “it’s a bit of a shock to be fair! I mean I knew we’d so well but coming away with a gold, especially when we’re new to each other. It’s gone perfectly to be honest.”

 The pair had only been training since the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and Kothari added that “we had the benefit of actually five sessions before we competed, being together and having a good competition and actually it put us at a little bit of an advantage because we’ve just come off the back of it.”

 Toulson finished by saying “we’ve still got some events to go but we’re pleased with how it’s going.”