DIVING 10m PLATFORM SYNCHRO:All was going smoothly for Great Britain's divers until a disastrous fourth round, writes KEITH DUGGAN

FOR ONE afternoon, Britain renewed its once-in-four- year passion for men’s synchronised diving. David Cameron led the rally of the Brits at the Aquatic Centre to see if Tom Daley, the Plymouth teenager with the boy band smile who has, since his startling debut at the age of 14, had to grow up as the most famous teenager in Britain.

It wasn’t to be: the British pair of Daley and Pete Waterfield was not so much eclipsed by the 15-year-old favourites from China as much as a disastrous fourth dive. They were leading the field of eight countries after their first three dives and the union jacks were fluttering in the stands when the pair stepped up attempt a reverse three-and-a-half-turn somersault with tuck.

Few people in the arena beyond the other competitors and those charged with scoring the synchronicity and execution can gauge the technical subtleties of what is happening for the second and a half the divers are falling through the air. But the British pair looked so askew when they hit the water that it was obvious that their fortunes had turned.

People groaned. Television commentators grimaced. The prime minister looked at the scoreboard as the British placing fell faster than sterling against the dollar. The pair recovered their poise to score respectably in their final two fives but they couldn’t make up the ground and finished fourth.

“It is the worst place to finish in the Olympics. I would rather finish last because at least then you know you have missed every dive. We had a great start. I was calmer than I thought I would be. I just kicked my feet too high and over rotated and once you do that, there is no coming back . . . you can’t correct it. And it left us with too much to do,” said Waterfield.

Four years ago Blake Aldridge, Daley’s partner in Beijing, was inconsolable after an error by the 14-year-old left them outside the medals. He memorably suggested that Daley had some growing up to – literally and figuratively: Daly stood at a mere 5ft 1in then. He hasn’t found himself auditioning for the Olympic basketball side since; he now stands at 5ft 5in.

But he has certainly endured some tough years, struggling with long-term bullying issues at his school and he lost his father Rob, his first and last champion, to cancer in 2011.

Now, it was his turn to act as counsellor when the day suddenly threatened to turn traumatic.

“After our fourth dive, I just said to Pete, we can still come back; let’s get two solid dives in. But we were relying on someone else to drop their dive. We have experienced what the crowd is like now so we know what we need to do in the individual event. I kicked a little bit early and went a bit short and Pete kicked a bit high and went over.

“We did well to stay in fourth and the home crowd gave us a lift and the drive and determination to come back and do solid drives. If we got nine points more in our last three and a half – which we would normally be able to do – then we would be on that podium.”

In between dives, they stood under showers and kept hoping that the Chinese might slip up. But Yuan Cao and Yanquan Zhang were not so much like two boys diving in unison as one diving alongside a floor to ceiling mirror. They were the definition of double vision as they went through a repertoire of somersaults and twists with perfect timing. Their two weakest dives – they erred on their inward dive in their second performance and on their reverse three and a half somersault in the fourth round – were still good enough to keep them in front.

It is an absorbing sport: they make it look so easy and natural that it is easy to forget how easily their necks could snap from that height. The sound of two men hitting the water at once form a 10-metre height has to be the most distinctive sound in the Olympics.

But the arena went quiet after that fourth dive and although they cheered wildly when the local boys stepped out onto the board for their last two dives, this Olympic final offered further proof that the Chinese do not blink when it comes to Olympic pressure.

Yuan Cao said he intended hitting the shops in London to get a gift for his mother. “I haven’t decided what yet: I haven’t had the chance to go shopping. But I think the gold medal is the best gift for her.”

He won’t be the only Chinese athlete who leaves London bearing gifts of gold.