With only two months to go until the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games begin in April, Team England has selected 13 divers who will compete for ‘Team and Country’ in Australia – including Meldreth’s Dan Goodfellow.
Goodfellow earned a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 for Team GB in the synchronised diving event along with partner Tom Daley.
However, the 21-year-old, has already shown great courage in battling back from a potential career-threatening injury four years ago, which needed surgery.
“He damaged a nerve, so couldn’t control his shoulder blade,” said his coach Marc Holdsworth to the BBC. “We feared he would be out of the sport.
“We found a specialist and he strapped him to the table on Christmas Eve 2014 and managed to fix him.”
Goodfellow, who attended Melborne Village College between 2008 and 2013, first started on the boards in the area before diving to prominence in the European Junior Championships in 2011 when he was only 14-years-old, clinching bronze in the 3m springboard. In 2013 he swapped the gold in the 10m platform.
Team England have previously won 67 medals in diving at the Commonwealth Games, including 27 gold and topped the diving medal table at Glasgow 2014.
The 13-strong team already has nine Commonwealth medals between them, while a number of the chosen athletes will be competing at their first Games.
Three-time Commonwealth champion, reigning world champion and double Olympic bronze medallist Tom Daley will be returning to the Commonwealth stage as he headlines Team England’s diving squad for the Games.
Tom Daley, who will be competing in the individual 10m platform and 3m synchronised events, said: “It is an honour to be selected to represent Team England at my third Commonwealth Games.
“I had a great year last year, retaining my 10m title at the World Championships, and I am hoping that I can build on that and put in some great performances out on the Gold Coast in April.”
Team England will send a team of around 600 athletes and staff in what will be England’s largest ever team to represent the nation in an overseas sporting event. The team will compete in 18 sports, including 38 para medal events.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Team England’s diving team leader, Kim White, said:
“The announcement today shows we have a very strong team for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. We’ve got a good mix of experienced athletes as well as some younger divers.
“We had a great British Diving Championships in Plymouth last month and I’m confident we’ll see some good performances on the Gold Coast. Hopefully we can build on our previous Commonwealth Games success and bring home a few medals from the four days of diving.”
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