Tonia Couch has revealed that she took off better than expected on the one dive which seriously hampered her score in the Commonwealth Games 10m platform final.
Couch, 25, looked good for a medal after a strong qualifying display to make the final, but ended up in fifth place at the Royal Commonwealth Pool this evening.
She was most disappointed with her second dive - an inward three-and-a-half somersault - that she didn't land cleanly and gave her three scores of 6.0 from the judges.
"I'm disappointed as the rest of my dives were really good today, I just dropped one dive," she told reporters. "The takeoff was amazing, I felt so strong and kind of didn't know what to do with it.
"After dropping a dive your head goes down but I kept it together, forgot about that dive and did what I had to do and finished on a really good dive. Yes, I'm gutted but I walked away yesterday with a silver so I'll keep smiling.
"The girls that came first, second and third today dived really well, so even if I'd dived well I may not have got [on the podium]. They deserved it really."
Couch did come away with a medal at the Games - a silver in the 10m synchro with diving partner of four years and fellow Plymothian Sarah Barrow.
Pascal Lemesre
