Smallwood Appointed as Aquatics GB Performance Centre Lead Coach

Smallwood has worked extensively with some of the top talents in British diving. Most notably, he has coached Lois Toulson, Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding, who have achieved significant success under his guidance.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Lois Toulson won a bronze medal in the Women’s 10m Synchro event, alongside Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix – with the pair having won historic back-to-back World Championship medals in that event previously – while Laugher and Harding claimed bronze in the men’s 3m synchronized springboard contest at the Games, continuing their impressive run after two prior World Championship silvers and European and Commonwealth titles in 2022. 

Smallwood’s experience and his tailored coaching approach have been instrumental in nurturing Olympic-level talent, contributing to the ongoing success of British diving on the world stage.

Smallwood’s role will see him manage the Edinburgh Diving Centre, which has been accredited as a high-performance centre by Aquatics GB.

On his appointment, Adam said: 

The opportunity to work in Aquatics GB’s new Performance Centre was an opportunity that I was interested in straight away, and I’m looking forward to helping diving in Edinburgh and Scotland build on what is already a really great foundation. The new partnership with the University of Edinburgh is incredibly exciting and I look forward to opening up new possibilities for divers within Scotland. The coaching team within Edinburgh has some really promising up-and-coming coaches and the future here could be really exciting.” 

Head of Performance Sport at The University of Edinburgh, David Hughes, is delighted with the appointment, 

It is fantastic to recruit someone of Adams calibre to lead on the new high-performance centre in Edinburgh. He has a wealth of experience and I have no doubt he will develop the programme to a level that will last for many years to come. We pride ourselves on high-performance in terms of programmes and facilities and we are very excited to be part of this historic partnership alongside Aquatics GB, Scottish Swimming and Edinburgh Leisure.

Euan Lowe, Chief Executive of Scottish Swimming added: 

Edinburgh has a long and distinguished history of diving, and this partnership presents a fantastic opportunity to continue that legacy. Indeed, attracting the calibre of coach of Adam is testament to the potential of this partnership, and I am very excited to continue working with The University of Edinburgh, Aquatics GB and Edinburgh Leisure and see Edinburgh Diving develop into a Centre of Excellence for the sport in the UK.

Tim Jones, Aquatics GB Associate Performance Director, said:

This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to develop a partnership and new Aquatics GB Diving Performance Centre in Edinburgh. We are really keen to work alongside the University of Edinburgh and existing partners at Edinburgh Leisure and Scottish Swimming to make the most of what is a terrific training environment - and with the appointment of Adam as the Lead Coach there, we really feel that this programme can make strides forward in producing our next generation of world-class divers in the coming years.

Edinburgh Leisure Manager Lynne Bauba added: 

The Royal Commonwealth is Scotland’s premier diving facility, and we are very proud of our programme from grass roots to performance level. Having the opportunity to add a Head Coach with the talent and expertise of Adam will bring a new and exciting dynamic to our coaching programme. This has strengthened our partnership working with Edinburgh University, Aquatics GB and Scottish Swimming to allow us to develop the facility into a Performance Centre of Excellence. We are all very excited for Adam to get started in his new role and look forward to seeing the positive results.