Olympic diving gold medallist Jack Laugher has reacted angrily after his long-term coach Adrian Hinchliffe was poached by Australia Diving.
Hinchliffe guided Laugher and synchro partner Chris Mears to gold in the 3m event in Rio 2016 and had hoped to gain a full-time position with British Diving following his success, having only previously worked as a part-time consultant.
British Diving failed to make him an offer, however, and he was poached by Australia's Olympic team as they prepare for Tokyo 2020.
"I think it's a massive insult to me and to Ady," Laugher told BBC Look North. "He has done something that no coach has ever done before, to create such a brilliant training environment with such amazing divers, who have achieved more than anyone has ever achieved in Britain.
"British Diving and the national performance director [Alexei Evangulov] have really overlooked how much of a key part he is. To have someone like Ady say 'sack this I'm leaving', well it should never have got to this point."
Mears added: "To be honest, I think he's been forced to leave, which is a shame after what he's done for me and Jack."
Hinchliffe had worked at Leeds diving club - also home to Tom Daley's synchro partner Daniel Goodfellow and Commonwealth champ Rebecca Gallantree - for 24 years.
Neil Wilkes
