Courtesy: Team England
Team England has revealed the team of divers that will represent the home nation at this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
With Olympic medallists Matty Lee, Jack Laugher and Daniel Goodfellow all included, the 18-strong team will compete in the newly-built Sandwell Aquatics Centre from August 4th – 8th. The group also features five athletes who have stepped on to a Commonwealth Games podium before – with Laugher, Goodfellow, Lois Toulson, Noah Williams and Matthew Dixon all hoping for further Games success in Team England colours.
Individual and synchronised divers from across the Commonwealth will compete in events across the 1m and 3m springboard and the 10m platform, with judges scoring each dive across starting position, take-off, flight, entry into the water and synchronicity in the synchro events.
Among a host of Commonwealth debutants on the team is Team England Generation 22 athlete Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, who made her Olympic bow representing Team GB at Tokyo 2020 and won two medals at the 2021 European Championships.
Team England finished top of the diving medals table on the Gold Coast in 2018, with four golds and eight medals in total, including a hat-trick of titles for Laugher.
This summer, Team England will comprise of over 400 athletes in total, all of whom will look to capitalise on the once in a lifetime opportunity to bring home success in their own country.
The divers announced to represent Team England are:
- Amy Rollinson – Luton
- Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix – London
- Desharne Bent-Ashmeil – Croydon
- Eden Cheng – London
- Emily Martin – London (from Southampton)
- Evie Smith – London (from Farnborough)
- Lois Toulson – Yorkshire
- Robyn Birch – London (from Ashford)
- Yasmin Harper – Sheffield (from Chester)
- Anthony Harding – Leeds (from Oldham)
- Ben Cutmore – Cambridge
- Daniel Goodfellow – Leeds (from Cambridge)
- Jack Laugher – Leeds (from Harrogate)
- Jordan Houlden – Sheffield
- Kyle Kothari – London
- Matthew Dixon – Plymouth
- Matty Lee – London (from Leeds)
- Noah Williams – London
On being selected for her first Commonwealth Games, 17-year-old Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix said: “I am so honoured to be a part of a team of such incredible athletes. I’ve never had an international competition on home soil, so I am super excited to have my parents and brother come to Birmingham to support me. I remember watching the Gold Coast and thinking ‘I really want to be a part of that team one day’ – and I am so happy to have the opportunity to compete and make my family and friends proud.”
Olympic Champion Matty Lee commented on his selection: “It means an awful lot to be Part of the Pride again. I enjoy the Commonwealth Games because it’s something different and it has a special place in my heart because I always wanted to go to a Commonwealth Games. I feel like I can do really well, and I think doing it for England, we always want it to ‘come home’, and I want to be the one to ‘Bring It Home’.”
Five-time Commonwealth gold medallist, Jack Laugher said: “It’s my fourth Commonwealth Games, which is obviously super exciting, especially with it being in Birmingham in our home country, it’s massive. The ambition is to do as best as I can, I’ve had a really successful year with three golds at the British Championships and now heading into the World Championships to shake the cobwebs off at a really large event.”
Team England’s Chef de Mission, Mark England OBE, welcomed the divers to the team: “I’m proud to welcome the 18 divers to Team England for the Commonwealth Games. The team blends previous medal winners with fresh and exciting talent such as Generation 22 athlete Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, and I know the Birmingham crowd will be right behind our athletes as they aim to ‘Bring It Home’ this summer.”
You can get behind Team England by following its social channels where each athlete will become Part of the Pride in the run up to Birmingham.
The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport event with a fully integrated programme of para sport disciplines and this year’s Games promises to be extra special with full stadiums and arenas after Tokyo 2020 took place behind closed doors. Birmingham 2022 is set to have the largest ever female and para sport programme in history after a new discipline of Women’s T20 Cricket, Beach Volleyball and Para Table Tennis were confirmed.