The first two British divers to qualify for an Olympic final, Tonia Couch and Stacie Powell, have showed their promise in the women's 10m individual platform event.
Couch, who has performed consistently throughout the competition, began excellently again. Any nerves she may have been feeling were put to one side as she started with her reverse 2 ½ Somersaults piked and scored 8s to put her in 10.
Couch gained confidence through the rounds to continue to score highly and as she entered the final round she found herself lying in fifth place overall.
The Plymouth based diver has struggled with the same dive throughout the competition and once again found herself missing her entry on the inward 2 ½ somersaults tucked to fall down the board and found herself in 8th position overall with a total score of 328.70.
"I am really pleased with myself," Couch said. "I was aiming to make the semi-final and to finish in the top 8 at my first Olympics is a dream come true. I really couldn't ask for any more of myself than I put into that performance.
"I came into the final in 12th place and at one point I was in the top 5 and now I am 8th in the world. I am still young and learning about the sport. I still have many harder dives to learn. It is so exciting to do so well in an event I was here to gain experience from.
"Internationally I have never made a semi-final before so to figure in the Olympic final shows my progression over the past year."
Powell, who has managed to score well despite some inconsistent dives, went into the final in 11th place and after her first round she looked hungry to move further up the international rankings.
She executed the first two dives excellently to put herself in 7th place but after missing third and fourth she slipped down to 9th. She needed to pick herself up for the final round and finished off her Olympic campaign well with her back 2 ½ somersaults 1 ½ twists piked to score 76.50 points. She scored 303.50 to finish in 10th place overall.
"To make the final was my aim and I managed to move up some places in an amazing event," Powell said. "It is the first time that two British women have competed in an Olympic final and to know we made history is fantastic.
"The progress we have made show how well the young team are developing in the lead up to 2012. This competition has taught me to be tougher as a competitor. It was always designed to give us experience but to come out of it with a final placing was a fitting way to end our Olympic campaign."
