CHRIS Mears admitted it had been good to blow away the cobwebs as he and fellow Olympic champion Jack Laugher marked their first appearance since Rio 2016 with victory at the British National Cup in Plymouth.

The duo made history last summer when they became Great Britain’s first diving Olympic champions after finishing top of the pile in the men’s 3m synchro.

What followed was two-and-a-half months off from the sport, with the two enjoying their moment in the spotlight with trips to various awards evenings and MBEs in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list.

It’s back down to business now though and with the World Series starting in Beijing next month followed by the World Championships in Budapest in July, Mears and Laugher (pictured) put in an encouraging performance at the Plymouth Life Centre on Friday night with a score of 415.02.

Mears said: “There were some nerves, being announced as Olympic champions definitely shook me up a little bit.

“But I very quickly regathered myself and we had a little giggle about it as it brought back some memories.

“Then we were ready to get into the competition environment and it was really good to run our list out again.

“This is the first time since Rio we’ve competed so it was a little bit strange, but everything went really well and we got a pretty good score.

“We know what we need to do going forward working towards the World Series and World Champinships at the end of the year.”

The 3m synchro was Mears’ only outing of the three-day competition in Plymouth having revealed his intention to now concentrate solely on the team competition rather than splitting his time with individual matters too.

Laugher, meanwhile, also picked up 1m springboard gold earlier on the Friday before withdrawing from the following day’s 3m individual – an event he won silver in last year in Rio – due to a slight injury concern.

But the 22-year-old, like his synchro partner, was equally pleased to kick off the season with a strong showing together.

“We’ve both just had about two-and-a-half months off, it was well needed, and well deserved really,” he added.

“Obviously we do sport day in and day out and we’re pushing ourselves every day. Coming up to the games it was a really stressful time.

“It was a well-needed break to relax and regather ourselves to get back to where we needed to be so we can start fresh and we’re wanting to become better every day. It was a bit difficult coming back, but we enjoyed ourselves and we had a good time.”

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