Two towering contests between British and German divers on day two of the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 produced golds for each nation as Maisie Bond and Lois Toulson won the women’s 10m synchro and Moritz Wesemann’s final wonder dive earned him victory in the men’s 1m springboard.
Wesemann, defending the title he won in Antalya last year, went into the last of the six rounds trailing Jack Laugher – who had won Paris 2024 3m synchro bronze in this same Olympic Aquatic Centre two years earlier – by 8.85 points after the Briton had taken the lead with a penultimate round effort scoring 81.60.
Laugher fell a little short of his best with a last dive that earned 64.35. But in order to win Wesemann was still left needing to better 73.20 with his final dive – a Reverse 1½ Somersaults 3½ Twists Free (5337D) with a huge degree difficulty of 3.6.
It was all or nothing for the 24-year-old German – and it turned out to be all as he registered a magnificent 86.40 points to reach a final total of 431.45, with the 31-year-old Laugher adding a ninth European medal to his collection as he claimed silver on 418.25.
Bronze went to Laugher’s team-mate Jordan Houlden who led after the fourth round but could not quite up his game from that point on, finishing on 410.30. It was at least a material reward for the man who finished an agonising fourth in both the 1m and 3m springboard at last year’s World Championships.
“There was a lot of pressure on that last dive,” Wesemann told European Aquatics. “But I didn’t really follow the scores during the competition.
“I knew I was doing well and I was going for a medal, but I had no idea if that was going for a gold or maybe just a bronze.
“But I would say I had the highest heart rate in the last dive, and I could feel pressure, but I tried to just enjoy it and go with it and I just took whatever it was.
“I would call it my signature dive because I have been doing it since I was a junior. I really do like this dive. But also for this one having a little bit of pressure gives you the adrenaline kick to hit the board and go for it.
“Because on this dive you have to go all in or you don’t have a chance. So I think that might have helped me as well.”
Laugher, who had qualified sixth in the morning’s preliminaries, commented: “It was a really good battle between me, Jordan and Moritz.
“I didn’t have a degree of difficulty that the other boys had today, I had a slightly easier list, and I unfortunately dropped my last dive and Moritz’s last dive was just perfection.
“So I am really glad to be amongst the medals, and after the performance this morning to turn it around and reach the podium is fantastic.”
Italy’s Lorenzo Marsaglia, who won silver last year, was fifth on 387.00.
Home hope Jules Bouyer, who had topped the morning’s preliminaries, recovered from a poor start to move into contention, but never got higher than fifth as he finished on 384.30.
Toulson and Bond were top Europeans at last year’s World Aquatics Championships, finishing fifth, and that experience was evident throughout the competition – their level was high and, crucially, they were the most consistent pair.
Marginally behind NAB after round one, they moved ahead before dropping back to second place, just 1.50 points adrift of Germany, who had scored 67.20 after deploying the first of their two 3.2 degree difficulty (DD) dives – an Inward 3½ Somersaults Tuck (407C).
For the final two rounds, however, on both their 3.2 DD dives, the Britons were a model of effective resolve.
After Germany – represented by Pauline Pfeif, who won this title last year, and her new partner Elena Wassen – dipped to a 64.80 score in round four the Toulson and Bond regained the lead with the same dive the Germans had used in round three, scoring 79.08.
First in the order of diving, Pfeif and Wassen regained their top level with a gutsy final effort, scoring 72.00 for their Back 2½ Somersaults 1½ Twists Pike (5253B).
Could the British pairing also maintain their level? The answer, emphatically, was yes as their own version of the 5253B dive yielded them exactly the same score as they had earned in round four – and giving them the title by 1.86 points.
Bronze went to Ukraine’s Kseniia Bailo and Sofia Vystavkina, who matched the exploits of their compatriots in the previous night’s mixed team event by moving up to third position in the last round after recovering from a poor start.
They totalled 286.20 to finish above Spain’s defending champions, Valeria Antolino and Ana Carvajal, who finished on 282.24.
Toulson, 26, who won Olympic bronze in this venue two years ago with Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, has now claimed this title three times with different partners, having having won with Eden Cheng in 2018 and with Spendolini-Sirieix in 2022.
For the 19-year-old Bond 19 this was a first senior international championship medal – and it could not have been a better colour.
Looking ahead to 2026 at the start of the year she told the Yorkshire Post: “This year I want to gain more confidence and more experience on the senior circuit,” adding that she wanted to reach the stage where she could “walk in there and not be like a rabbit in the headlights.”
Job done.
“We came into these Championships wanting to win and knowing it was possible,” Toulson said. “We’d been training really hard and looking good I think.
“That was a pb for us. To be able to do that and get a gold medal…we’re really proud.”
Bond commented: “I felt a bit of pressure coming into these Championships, especially as Lois had had so much success. I didn’t want to be that person that comes in and ruins that!
“But you never really feel pressure or nerves when you are with someone like Lois because it’s fun, it’s enjoyable as much as it can be, and I think having someone like Lois who has so much experience.
“It makes that rabbit-in-the-headlights sort of thing almost impossible.”
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Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
