BLAKE Aldridge has launched a stinging attack on British Diving claiming the national governing body is trying to force him out of the sport.

The Olympic diver had his dreams of representing England at the Commonwealth Games crushed last week after he was left out of the seven-man squad heading to Delhi, India in October.

Aldridge says he feels "angry" at the omission and feels he did enough to deserve selection, having retained his title as European Cliff Diving champion last month and beaten Max Brick – who has been picked for the Commonwealths – at the National Championships in June.

The Norbury star outperformed Brick again at the European Championships in Hungary earlier this month, reaching the final of the men's 10-metre platform, but was unable to participate in the final – and compete for medals – because of an arm injury.

A furious Aldridge, who revealed he was not invited to a training camp for the British squad in Rome ahead of the Europeans, is now poised to lose his funding next month and the Crystal Palace diver believes that is a situation which British Diving wants.

"There are people that are selected who haven't met the requirements that I have met and they are still in the team," he said.

"It comes down to me being towards the end of my career and these youngsters are just starting out [but] I don't think that's right as I have given 23 years of my life to this career.

"Recently I went to Russia for a competition but the whole [British] team had been taken away for a two-week training camp prior to the Grand Prix. I was flown out four or five days before the competition.

"There was another decision to not take me to the World Cup, to take someone I have beaten on every single occasion I have dived against them.

"Unfortunately it seems they are trying to push me out of the sport rather than make decisions where I can leave at my own leisure. All I can do is keep knocking on that door.

"The biggest problem for me is that I am the one going in every day, training my backside off to keep in the sport, and I'm proving that I'm up there but they are taking people that aren't as good as me. There can't be anything more demoralising than proving you're better and then [selectors] taking the other person."

Aldridge is particularly aggrieved at being overlooked for an invitation to the British diving team's pre-European Championships training camp in Rome.

With his coach away on leave, he was shocked at not being given the opportunity to prepare with his team-mates and feels that was to blame for the injury that hampered his performances in the preliminary round in Budapest.

"I made the final but it was with an injury (sore triceps) and I had to pull out because of it. If I was taken to the training camp beforehand I wouldn't be injured," he said.

"They knew my coach was away on leave but they still didn't take me to the camp. With the 10-metre, if I have a few days off from it I'm sore. The whole time I was out there my body was really fatigued.

And he added: "It comes down to the fact that my funding is due to come to an end in September.

"I had a target at the Europeans which was to medal or hit a certain score. I knew if I didn't hit that score there I would be coming off my funding and I would have to do something else to make a living.

"In my opinion they should be giving me the best opportunity to make that target."

But a statement from British Swimming said Aldridge had been given sufficient help, although it stopped short of explaining why the Crystal Palace Diving Club star had not been taken to the team training camp in Rome.

"Blake was provided with an individual training camp in Sheffield prior to the European Championships," the statement read.

"He was given funding for travel, food and accommodation expenses in order for him to be fully prepared for competition."

Aldridge says he had a message from the national performance director of British Diving, explaining that he had not met the requirement for a place in the Commonwealth Games team.

But the former Stanley Tech student said: "It's no answer in my opinion.

"I'm disappointed because I have done every event in the world but not the Commonwealth Games, and I'm going to end my career with that box unticked.

"Instead they are taking Oliver Dingley who pulled out of the nationals (where Aldridge won silver) – so what requirement has he met?"

Alexei Evangulov, national performance director for British Diving and the Commonwealth Games diving team leader, said the decision not to select Aldridge was based only on "sports criteria"

"The reason is simple: he didn't make the standards to qualify," said Evangulov. "He wasn't replaced by someone else.

"According to The Selection Policy-2010, divers should make the standard points in order to be under consideration. The standard for Platform men is 882 points. Peter Waterfield has made 963, Max Brick 786, Blake Aldridge 776.

"Thomas Daley was injured and didn't compete [during the British Gas Diving Championships] however Tom has learnt four new dives and increased his total diving difficulty (DD) from 19.5 to 20.9.

"All three of the divers in Platform have implemented their targets and improved their performances. They are consistently improving their technical level and difficulty (DD).

"A very important point: Blake's current points are 15 per cent lower than when he qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

"We have provided numerous international competitive opportunities for Blake including the Moscow FINA Grand Prix, the USA FINA Grand Prix and the European Championships."

A determined Aldridge says he will not let the setbacks stop him diving and vowed to keep going in a bid to gain a place at the Olympics in London in two years' time.

"They can keep opening the door but unfortunately I am not going to walk through it. When I am ready to leave the sport I will do.

"They have done enough to me that would be too much for a normal person but I'm in a sport where you have to be mentally tough and pick up the pieces. I'm not going to let someone dictate to me when I should stop."