THERE was great success for a team of sixteen divers from the Southampton Academy when they competed in the GBDF Southern England Junior Novice Championships at Amersham.

They claimed seven gold, three silver and two bronze medals.

Despite the fact that for many members of the team it was their first competition away from the Quays, they dominated the event.

The most outstanding dive of the meet was executed by Jamie Martin, the 13-year-old receiving an eight from two of the judges for his inward dive tucked off the 1m.

"It was a beautiful dive," said coach, Charly Tomkys. "He certainly earned his excellent score, I was really proud of him."

But overall the most consistently impressive performances came from Ellie Hill for the girls and Jack Howsham for the boys.

Both youngsters put in a set of excellent dives.

"Their performance was outstanding for such inexperienced competitors," enthused Director of Coaching Lindsey Fraser.

"I have high hopes for all the divers in this new novice team and am confident that they are going to do the club proud this season."

The team has had significant input during training from Tomkys and Ellie Clewlow (both 17), two of the youngest members of the coaching team at the Academy.

"We have an excellent group of younger coaches coming through at the moment," Fraser added. "They are all divers themselves with their own notable achievements and this experience is being used to good effect to help the next generation of youngsters."

Full results were:

Sarah Maultsaid, silver; Erin Marshall, bronze; Kristyan Hornsby, gold; Ellie Clewlow, gold; Alex Cameron, gold; Georgia Wingrove, gold; Ciaran Allen, 4th; Stephen Lingard, bronze; Jack Howsham, gold; Matthew Richter, silver; Robert Knight, 5th; Ted Barker, 4th; Jamie Martin, silver; Daniel Turner, gold; Scarlet Long, 5th; Ellie Hill, gold.