Background
Tonia Couch was born in Plymouth.
Tonia Couch was born in Plymouth.
In February 2002, she became the youngest girl ever to qualify for the lottery funded Junior Olympic Programme, when she took bronze in the Junior girls platform event at the British Championships. lieutenant was at that point that her talent on the platform was really recognized. There have been many ups and downs in Tonia’s career.
Competition for spots on international teams in the Women"s Platform event within Great Britain is fierce and Tonia has had her fair share of disappointments, however she always bounces back and becomes even stronger and without doubt, her two greatest triumphs have been on the greatest stages of all.
In 2008 and 2009, her 8th places at the Olympics and then the World Championships (the best result by a British female for 20 years), have secured her place in diving history. Couch reached the World final again in 2011, finishing ninth in the 10m Platform.
The duo shone in 2012, winning European gold and World Cup bronze, and a finished in fifth-place in front of a home crowd at the London 2012 Olympics. The 2013 season: "Having reclaimed the British 10m Platform title at the beginning of 2013, Couch competed at her fifth consecutive World Championships in the summer, finishing ninth in the 10m Platform and fifth with Barrow in the 10m Synchro."
At the March 2015 World Series event in Dubai, Tonia took third place in the 10m platform event.
Tonia had been a fairly accomplished competitive gymnast and came to Plymouth diving for a “trial” in September 1999, just 4 weeks later, she won her first competition, a novice event at Crystal Palace in London. She competed at the 2009 World Championships in Rome and at her second Commonwealth Games in 2010 in Delhi. In the 2014 season she finished fourth at the World Cup in Shanghai, then combined with Sarah Barrow to win a silver medal at the Commonwealth games held in Glasgow, 2014.
