A young Team GB diving coach who worked with Tom Daley died in Turkey, a coroner’s court has heard.
David Jenkins died on October 9, 2021, aged just 31, coroner Andrew Walker told North London Coroner’s Court on Thursday.
Mr Jenkins worked with Daley, a Great Britain Olympic gold medallist, and was part of Team GB’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic training squad.
Members of his family, who said they live around the corner from the court in Chipping Barnet, watched the hearing via video link and asked Mr Walker questions about the inquest process.
Mr Walker told them the court is waiting for the Foreign Office to receive a police report, post-mortem report and toxicology report from Turkey before the inquest can take place.
Mr Walker said the court made the request to the Foreign Office for the paperwork on May 9, 2022, with the Government department saying it can take six to nine months to arrive.
Mr Walker scheduled another hearing for 2pm on December 15, saying it will either be another mention or updated to an inquest if the necessary material has arrived beforehand.
He said the family will be notified if the hearing will be a full inquest.
A member of the family asked: “If it becomes an inquest, do you need to hear from people who were with David at the time?”
The coroner said it would be helpful for the family to provide a list of the people so the court could approach them for their account of the events that led to Mr Jenkin’s death.
Two days after Mr Jenkin’s death, British Swimming released a statement saying: “All our thoughts and condolences go out to David’s wife, family and friends, and we please ask that their privacy, and that of the British Diving community, be respected at this difficult time.
“We will be working closely with staff and athletes who have been affected by this awful news.”
British Swimming said Mr Jenkins was the development lead coach for Dive London and he was also nominated for Diving Coach of the Year at the British Swimming Awards in 2018.
Mr Jenkins also played an “instrumental role” in the Tom Daley Diving Academy, delivering lessons to thousands of children across the country.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here