SOUTHEND Diving claimed 13 medals after excelling at the prestigious G Star Championships.

Held in Leeds, the Garon Park club won five gold, two silver and six bronze medals competing against the country’s best national age group and elite divers.

And it was a result that delighted head coach Shan Veasey.

“The Southend Diving team have seen their hard work and commitment rewarded,” said Veasey. “Each diver achieved something at the event and it is truly wonderfully to see the potential within the team.”

An 18-strong team headed to Yorkshire and it was the team’s youngest member that arguably turned in the best performance.

Todd Geggus, 10, bagged a set of gold, silver and bronze medals.

Having qualified in first place on the 1m springboard, he finished second in the final. And he turned the tables in the platform event, qualifying second only to win gold in the final. In the 3m springboard, Todd won bronze to complete his treble.

Hayden Rayment, 11, joined Todd on the podium after winning silver in the 1m springboard event, as well as winning bronze on the 3m springboard.

Jessie Millham claimed two gold medals and three personal bests on all her boards.

The 13-year-old finished second in the 1m springboard qualifier only to win the final and she bettered that in the 3m springboard - jumping from third place in qualifying to first on the 3m springboard. Jessie finished with a bronze medal on the platform.

And Jessie was pleased her hard work proved to be worth it.

“I’ve been training really hard to be ready for the British Junior Championships in April and G Star was a great warm up for it,” she said. “I’m so happy to have won medals and got personal bests. It was awesome.”

Max Lano, 14, was a double gold medallist who qualified for the 3m springboard final with a PB in third place to go on and take first place. This was a feat he repeated on the 1m springboard.

Hudson Lawrence, 14, won three bronze medals on the 1m and 3m springboard as well as the platform.

Vinnie Cook, 15, finished fourth in the 3m springboard despite battling an ongoing knee injury.

In the men’s category Lewis Irons, 17, finished fourth in the final of the Platform while there was a fine showing by Abby Rust, 10, who was two points short of qualifying on the 1m springboard.