Coach Jane Figueiredo Leaves Aquatics GB After Guiding Divers To The Pinnacle
Jane Figueiredo, who guided Tom Daley and Matty Lee to 10m synchro Olympic gold in Tokyo, is leaving Aquatics GB after 11 years.
After starting her coaching role at the Aquatics GB Performance Centre London in 2013, her divers have picked up a combined eight Olympic medals – with Noah Williams, Daley and Scarlett Mew Jensen all reaching the podium at Paris 2024, as part of Team GB’s best-diving performance at a Games.
She has contributed to the development of Aquatics GB as a force in international diving as a coach on senior GB teams, with her athletes involved in that Paris return, a record-breaking seven-medal British haul at last February’s World Aquatics Championships in Doha, six at the 2022 World Championships in 2022 and Daley and Lee’s title in 2021.
Rikuto Tamai of Japan, silver, Yuan Cao of China, gold, and Noah Williams of Great Britain: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
Figueiredo, whose final event came at last weekend’s Aquatics GB Diving Winter Cup in Sheffield, was one of the lead coaches in UK Sport’s inaugural Female Coaches Leadership Programme back in 2021.
Her achievements were recognised last November when she was honoured with the IOC Female Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024.
The annual awards celebrate one female and one male coach who have played a critical role in guiding the sporting and personal journeys of athletes under their tutelage.
On her decision to step away, the 61-year-old said through Aquatics GB:
“The last 11 years with Aquatics GB and Dive London in the Performance Centre has just been incredible – probably the most exciting, most fun time of my career, leading Tom Daley and then the rest of the cohort of Olympians that have won medals over the past three cycles.
“It’s an important time for me personally, and it’s certainly a personal decision – I’m not tired of coaching or tired of the place, I just want to put myself first now and take care of myself and make sure I spend some time with my loved ones. I’ll be watching diving from the outside, and trying to enjoy it as a spectator. That will be weird!
“It has been a beautiful journey, I’ve had really incredible people to work with and those people have been incredible to me, supportive, and I will love and miss all of them. It’s not a goodbye, it’s just ‘I’ll see you later!’
“There are lots of moments that stand out. I think in terms of at the pinnacle of sport, especially in diving, it would be Tom and Matty winning the gold medal in Tokyo. That was pretty darn special – and then of course Noah Williams winning a bronze in the individual (in Paris), and the girls, Scarlett and Yasmin, winning the women’s 3m synchro bronze medal, the first in more than six decades. Those are significant moments. There are a lot of defining moments, like Tom winning Worlds as well. But it’s probably just what we built in London, I would say that is one of the most defining things, starting from scratch to where we are today.”
Aquatics GB Diving Head Coach Alexei Evangulov said:
“I first met Jane in 1996 during the Atlanta Games, and we have worked side by side since then. I invited her to join the British Diving coaching team in 2012, and she accepted it with a great pleasure and started working with the same zeal.
“Within two years, Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow won the Men’s 10m Synchro bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics. It is worth noting that before then, Jane was considered as a ‘springboard specialist’ as all her previous Olympic medals were from 3m. The next two Olympic medals were in Tokyo, again on the 10m platform – Tom individually, and that brilliant 10m synchro gold for Tom and Matty. And finally, in Paris, Jane reached her highest success – three medals, two on platform and one on springboard, as Scarlett Mew Jensen and Yasmin Harper [coached by Tom Owens] won Britain’s first-ever female synchro Olympic medal.
Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
“I can’t recall any other international diving coach with such a rich and successful Olympic career. Her impact in British diving history cannot be overstated. We are connected not only by our profession, but also a long and warm friendship, and I wish her the best for the future.”
Chris Spice, Aquatics GB Performance Director, added:
“Jane’s impact on Aquatics GB diving is visible not only on the continued success of her divers across multiple Olympics, World Championships and Europeans, but in the way she is viewed and valued by other coaches across international diving – as we saw when she was honoured with the IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award last year.
“The longevity of Tom Daley’s success working with her is just one example – to have won medals at three Olympics and become world champion at three different World Championships as a combination speaks to that. Jane will always remain a great friend of our programme and we wish her all the best for the future.”
Done a great job where ever she’s been ! Enjoy the step back & enjoy your new advebtures