Pete Waterfield wants to move on from the public feud with coach Alexei Evangulov following more inflammatory comments by the Russian.

British Diving performance director Evangulov latest outburst likened the career of Southampton star Waterfield’s partner Tom Daley to that of fallen-star former tennis player Anna Kournikova.

The comments came a week after Evangulov warned the teenage former world champion’s media commitments were jeopardising his Olympic hopes, while also claiming his Chinese rivals “trained three times harder.”

“It reminds me of the situation in Russia with Kournikova,” Evangulov was reported to have said.

“She looked pretty and made a promising start to her career but the media exposure meant she never got to be the best. She is still in the celebrity news but she never achieved her full potential.

“I am angry because nobody will listen to me. If he stopped all his media work now, I might be able to get him up to the third best diver.

“I don’t mind what he does if he gets the medal. He can become a rock star.”

Waterfield came out in defence of Daley before the comments, after the pair could only claim seventh in the final of the platform synchro.

After hearing about Evangulov’s latest comments yesterday Waterfield, who qualified for the semi-final of the individual platform in the afternoon, was keen to move on.

“I didn’t know he said anything. I’m just here doing my job,” he said.

Asked if he would like to move on from the feud, he said: “Everything is about going to London. We’re all working as hard as we can. We’re all doing the best job that we can. That’s what I’m here to do and that’s what we’re all here to do.

“We’re all going to be putting in 100 per cent to what we do because it is our home Olympics.’’ Full story in today's Daily Echo