SOUTHEND Diving’s young stars shone at the National Diving Skills Competition held at their Garon Park base.

Southend had a team of 18 divers taking part and won two gold medals, three silver and one bronze in a competition which attracted more than 270 participants.

And Southend’s deputy head diving coach Bill Clark was delighted by the success.

“We’re really pleased with how our divers performed,” said Clark.

“A lot of them taking part were youngsters from the school talent search we do and the learn to dive programme we have.

“It’s the cream of the crop from the grass roots of the sport who are really pushing on and as a club it was also great for us to be able to host such a big event.”

Every member of the team selected qualified for the event at a regional competition and met the minimum standards set by the technical diving committee at the beginning of the competitive season.

Divers took part from all across the United Kingdom as far afield as Dubai.

And the highlight of the competition for Southend Diving saw Ethan King and Ceri Ewing - who are both 13 - crowned champions in their age group.

Ethan beat 14 other divers in his age group.

He executed his forward one and a half somersaults in the piked position for an impressive 34 points.

Ceri went even further than that with her impressive win by beating 32 divers from 11 other clubs.

She secured her medal with a top quality inward one and a half somersaults from the one metre board.

That added an impressive 42.90points to her overall score of 313.35.

Lilly Widdows, 12, also dived very well against the other girls in her age group and won the bronze medal in her event. This kicked off a stream of medals from the team as Lexi Bushnell, 13 Lily Maggs, 11 and Noah Allende, 11 all took the silver medal in their competitions.

But Young Peggy Jefferson and Luana Bull both faced disappointment at their regional event as they fell short of the minimum standard slightly and subsequently missed out on nationals.

However, both girls showed excellent team spirit and supported their team mates through the event as they were selected onto the events team as medal bearers.

>Anyone interested in learning to dive can book directly by calling 01702 613000.

Alternatively interested divers can drop into reception at the Garon Park Southend Swimming and Diving Centre which is situated along Eastern Avenue.