SOUTHAMPTON diver Blake Aldridge hit back at teenage Olympic partner Tom Daley after the pair had a row moments before their final dive in the 10m synchronised final.

Following the dive, which saw the pair come last out of the eight finalists, Aldridge, 12 years older than 14-year-old Daley, blamed the teenager's nerves for their poor showing.

He revealed that Daley had taken offence to Aldridge speaking to his mother on the telephone before their last dive.

He said: "'There was a little incident but it is an Olympic Games, you are in a different world and people are going to do things differently.

"He had a pop at me before the last dive.

"I saw my mum in the audience and I asked her to give me a call and Tom went to me 'Why are you on the phone? We're still in the competition and we've got another dive to do'.

"That's just Thomas - he's over-nervous.

"Thomas should not be worrying about what I'm doing but he was worrying about everyone and everything and that to me is really the sole reason why he didn't perform.

"We were out of character, Tom was nervous and that's what happens.

"Certainly not so much for me, I'm a little bit older than Tom so I can take things on the chin a bit easier."

Daley, Britain's youngest Olympian for nearly 50 years, said competing in the Olympics had been a good experience but that he was disappointed with his performance.

China took gold in the event, with Germany finishing with silver and Russia bronze.