NORTH YORKSHIRE diver Jack Laugher cannot wait to double up as the World Series returns to Britain at the start of next month.
Laugher underlined his status as a potential medal contender at next year’s Rio Olympics when he claimed the 3m springboard crown at the Dubai leg of the World Series in March.
The 20-year-old, who is from Ripon and a member of the City of Leeds Diving Club, will compete in the 3m springboard as London stages the next round of the World Series on May 1-3.
And he will also team up with long-term partner Chris Mears to contest the 3m synchro event in the London Aquatic Centre, which staged the diving programme for the 2012 Olympics.
“I’m really excited to get to London,” said Laugher, who excelled as he claimed two gold medals and a silver at last summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. “It was the first competition where me and Chris did synchro together at that level, so it will be great to go back and see how we can do.
“The venue is very special and I’ll have my family and friends in the crowd. I love the pool and it’ll be great to come there straight after Russia (where the next World Series event will take place in Kazan on April 24-26).
“In terms of the synchro, it’s a bit annoying to have missed out on the medals in the first two World Series events, finishing fourth each time.
“But we are trying out a new strategy slightly. We are both diving really well individually, so those performances give us confidence going into the rest of the season.”
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STOCKTON table tennis star Karina Le Fevre continued her fantastic form as he won the Blackpool Grand Prix last weekend to claim her third Grand Prix title of the season.
Le Fevre, who started her career with the Ormesby Table Tennis club and is currently a student at Teesside University, beat Angharad Phillips to claim the title, securing her position at the top of the Grand Prix rankings in the process.
Having come through her group in commanding fashion, the 21-year-old progressed to the final with hard-fought victories over Megan Phillips and Abbie Milwain.
She started strongly against Phillips, claiming the opening two games, and while her opponent reduced the arrears to 2-1, she regrouped to close out the match with an 11-5 success in the fourth game.
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THE region’s leading international rowers will be in action this weekend as the GB Rowing Senior and Under-23 trials take place at Caversham.
The likes of Kat Copeland, Jess Eddie, Tina Stiller, Zoe Lee, Nathaniel Reilly-O’Donnell and Jamie Kirkwood will all be on the water attempting to cement their place in the British squad for the forthcoming World Cup series.
In all, 13 world champions and a host of other world and Olympic medallists will be in action across Saturday and Sunday in six events – the open men’s and women’s pairs and single sculls, plus the lightweight men’s and women’s single sculls.
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