Jack Laugher believes he and Anthony Harding have only shown a glimpse of their potential after winning World Championship 3m Syncho silver in their first international event as a pair.
Laugher and Harding scored 451.71 points from their six dives and narrowly missed out on gold by 7.47 points to China’s Yuan Cao and Zongyuan Wang, who made an error on their final dive.
The result marked Laugher’s fifth trip to a World Championship podium and the three-time Olympic medallist was full of praise for new partner Harding.
The duo started working together after the Tokyo Olympics and, though he expected they would go close to a medal, Laugher believes they have surpassed expectations.
"I think we'd be kidding ourselves if we didn't know we could come out here and achieve a world medal - but it's obviously one thing doing it and another thing actually producing it as well," he said.
“Speechless” came up a lot, as did “proud” - as it should. A BRILLIANT international debut for the 🇬🇧 duo.@JackLaugher compares his pairing with @antharding00 to that with his Olympic gold medal winning partner @ChrisMears93 from Rio 2016…
— Nick Hope - the athlete’s journalist 👨💻🏊🏻♂️ (@NickHopeTV) June 26, 2022
🎥 @fina1908 | @britishswimming pic.twitter.com/zlx7nlpIfe
"The performances we did at the National Cup in February and then the recent British Championships in Sheffield, very much indicated that we are here to try to hit those top spots.
"But I'm really proud of us coming out here, at our first international meet, and actually doing that. It's very easy to be a bit rabbit in the headlights and struggle with those pressures around it, that you put on yourself and from other people as well.
"I'm really proud of what we've done today. There's definitely more in the tank for both of us. China messed up their last dive and it does show that they are catchable - and I think that with a bit of work, a bit of improvement and maybe a bit more experience, hopefully we can reach that realm."
Laugher and Harding’s highpoint came with a fifth-round tally of 98.04 for their Forward 4 1/2 Somersaults Tuck (109C), the highest-scoring dive of the competition.
They finished with another excellent score of 90.09 for a Forward 2 1/2 Somersaults 3 Twists Pike and Harding, 21, admits he had to pinch himself at the end.
"I'm super, super chuffed. I've always believed in myself to make it this far,” he said.
“I came from a small club in Oldham, and just to be here was enough for me - but now to step on to that podium with Jack, it's amazing for me, my family and my friends.
"This is my first time at a World Championships, so the experience of it all is a massive one for me."
Sportsbeat 2022