Up for decision today were the men's and women's synchro competitions and the first pair to secure the gold came in the familiar guise of reigning world champions Ruolin Chen and Huixia Liu, who took their third consecutive World Series title of 2014 in the women's 10 metre synchro.

A score of 337.14 points put them comfortably clear of home pair Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow, who secured a much welcomed first medal of the year by taking silver, while London 2012 bronze medallists Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfieto of Canada occupied the third step of the podium once again at the Olympic venue.

"It has changed but it brings back good memories," said Filion of the new-look Aquatics Centre.

"The performance today was pretty good.

"It was our highest score this year.

"We're working really hard in training to improve our individual dives and we do a lot more synchro now and I think it's starting to reflect in competition."

Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfieto returned to the London Aquatics Centre to repeat their bronze medal finish from the Olympics ©Getty Images



The men's 10m competition was won by the impressive duo of Yang Jian and Aisen Chen who amassed a score of 479.13, highlighted by a superb final round front four-and-a-half somersaults tucked which gained 101.1 from the judges.

Ukraine's Oleksandr Bondar and Maxym Dolgov took the silver with a score of 448.26 points, while world champions Sascha Klein and Patrick Hausding of Germany won the bronze after finishing with 425.82 points.

World champions Minxia Wu and Tingmao Shi looked at their imperious best as they bagged their third 3m springboard gold in the women's competition this year, finishing with a back two-and-a-half somersaults piked to score a total of 332.40.

Italians Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallape took home the silver with a score of 306.90, while Britain secured their second medal of the day as the newly formed pairing of Hannah Starling and Becky Gallantree won bronze.

Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow were one of two British teams to claim a medal at the London Aquatics Centre today ©Getty Images



"We're really pleased because we've really not done much training together and really only had a week before London," revealed Gallantree.

"To be competing here at the Olympic pool and to win a medal is a fantastic feeling."

He Chong and Qin Kai took bronze in the men's 3m springboard at London 2012 but their return to the Olympic Park saw them improve their position by two as a score of 469.41 was enough to take the top spot this time round.

Ukraine won its second men's silver medal in the form of Oleksandr Gorshkovozav and Illya Kvasha, while bronze went to Russia's Evgeny and Illya Zakharov.

The Diving World Series meeting at the London Aquatics Centre, the third of the year, runs until Sunday (April 27).

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related Stories
March 2014: Shock win for Russia's Manibaev on final day of FINA Diving World Series
March 2014: Relentless China continue domination of FINA Diving World Series
March 2014: Different venue but same result as Chinese divers dominate in Dubai
March 2014: Final day in Beijing sees yet more medal success for home divers
March 2014: Golden day for China at FINA Diving World Series