Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow so close to diving medal

Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow produced the best performance by any British female diver at a World Championships as they finished fourth in the 10 metre synchro, missing out on a medal by just 1.77 points in Shanghai.

The pair's total of 314.52pts saw them fall just short of Germany in third but they still set a new benchmark for British women divers.

Given they still feel there is much room for improvement, the duo are confident of reaching the top three at the London Olympics next year. The extent of their achievement, and by extension potential, is underlined by the fact Barrow was out for seven months last year with a back injury while the partnership was still fresh and Couch suffers from ongoing tendinitis.

Barrow, 22, lives in Leeds and Couch, also 22, in Plymouth, where the former began her diving career before moving to Leeds Metropolitan to study sports science.

The pair were full of smiles after the event and Couch said: "We are really pleased to come fourth (although) a bit gutted to be two points off a bronze medal but at least we know next year we can medal, two points is nothing."

On whether they are at a good point of their development 12 months out from the Games, she added: "I think so. We are still a year out so hopefully within that time we should really make improvements. And if we make improvements on that list it should definitely put us up for medals "

The pair enjoyed a good opening effort, their reverse dive with pike earning them 52.20pts to place them third at the end of the first round behind China and Germany. However, a less well-spotted dive in the second round saw them drop to joint fifth with Malaysia. Their three-and-a-half somersault tuck featured a lot of splash on entry but they moved up to fourth, just 1.44pts behind third-placed Australia and 3.48 adrift of Germany in the silver medal position. However, they then dropped a place and entered the final round with a 5.73 gap to bridge on Germany in third. They executed their last dive well to move into first and were forced to look on as Germany, Australia and finally China bumped them down to fourth.

Hosts China were clear in front as they claimed their second gold medal of the day and their fifth medal in total at the outdoor diving pool.