A British diver won an Olympic bronze medal in Paris after bouncing back from the sudden death of her coach.
Scarlett Mew Jensen, 22, secured a dramatic third place in the women’s 3 metre synchronised springboard with her teammate, Yasmin Harper, 23.
Three years earlier, Mew Jensen’s coach, David Jenkins, who she credited with turning her career around, died from sudden adult death syndrome aged just 31.
Jenkins, who also worked closely with Tom Daley, was found collapsed in a swimming pool in the Turkish resort city of Antalya in October 2021.
Speaking to the BBC after her victory, Mew Jensen said: ‘All I was thinking about was him when we found out that we got a bronze.’
‘I know that he would be so proud of us. We were doing it when he was around as well so to split up, come back again and be Olympic medallists, I can’t explain it.
“I wish he was here…it’s a turn of events that I wish had never happened.”
An inquest at North London Coroner’s Court in Barnet in 2022 heard Jenkins died of sudden adult death syndrome while going for a swim before dinner after spending the day training the GB squad.
Assistant Coroner Peter Straker said the condition can kill even young, healthy athletes.
He told the court that sufferers experience an arrhythmia before the heart stops.
He added: “There have been some high-profile cases including, famously, the footballer Christian Eriksen, whose heart stopped while he was on a football field.
“He had advanced life support available almost instantly. You can imagine what the result would have been if he was in a pool.”
The inquest was told Jenkins was a fan of exercises where he would hold his breath underwater.
Both Mew Jensen and Harper wiped back tears of joy after their dramatic victory, which secured Britain’s first bronze of the Games.
It was made all the more remarkable by the fact that just months before the Paris Olympics began, Mew Jensen suffered a partial back fracture, meaning she was unable to dive for six weeks.
On Saturday morning, the British duo’s hopes of securing a medal of any colour looked to be fading after they slipped down the table following underwhelming second and third dives, leaving them in sixth.
After the Australian duo had a catastrophic last dive, however, the athletes received a score of 70.68 for their forward three-and-a-half somersault pike, which was enough to seal bronze behind America’s Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook.
China’s Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen took gold.
Born in Bow, London, Mew Jensen was featured in a promotional video for the 2012 games and met Daley, who she now trains alongside.
In an interview with Roman Road London ahead of the Games, Mew Jensen spoke of how as a young child she would often argue with her parents about her future in diving.
“I’d start arguments with my family because they were basically like you’re too good to stop. And I’d be like, well I don’t care because it’s horrible,” she said.
After the 2012 Olympics in London, the London Aquatic Centre (LAC) in Stratford opened for regular use.
Mew Jensen’s parents met with coaches at the LAC the following year and agreed to transfer their still slightly reluctant daughter there to train at age 13.
At the LAC, Mew Jensen met her new diving coach – Jenkins.
Mew Jensen said that Jenkins quickly became a mentor, even though she gave him the cold shoulder at first.
“It took six years [for Jenkins] to break that down, and I’m a completely different person and a completely different athlete now”, she said.
Under his guidance she went from strength to strength and in 2019 she won gold at the British Championships at age 17. The same year she won 19th place at the World Aquatics Championships.
She competed at the Tokyo Olympics, but failed to get through the first round of the crowdless, Covid-affected games.
Jenkins coached her through the disappointment, assuring her she was just starting out in her career and that the Paris Olympics would be her games.
A few months later, he passed away.
The loss of her mentor was devastating and had a profound impact on the way she trained. She began going to therapy and credits it with her success.
She added: [Jenkins] is still an incredible part of my journey, I take him with me everywhere.
“He didn’t just shape me as an athlete, he shaped me as a person. That was what he stood by, out of all of this, I want you to be an amazing diver but I really want you to be an amazing person.”
The bronze medal is the first women’s diving medal Team GB have won since Elizabeth Ferris secured a third place finish at the 1960 Rome Games.
The father of Yasmin Harper, Sean, said his daughter had worked tirelessly to ensure she was in medal-winning form at the Games.
He told the BBC: “Her A-Levels, as you can imagine, were really difficult for her – she was trying to balance doing at least 24 to 30-hours of training every weekend and to do her A-Levels at the same time.
“She chose not to go to university so that she could fulfil her dream, and she also turned down an offer to go to America, so she has stuck by it; she’s always wanted to represent her country at the Olympics.
“During Covid as well, when our front lounge was turned into a little mini-gym, she’s stuck by her dream, all the way through – she’s always wanted to represent her country at this level – today is just an amazing, amazing day for her.”
