WHEN Holly Waxman was seven years old, coaches from a diving club visited her school.

That visit was to change her life.

Seven years on, Holly is one of the top junior divers in the UK - she has even achieved a higher ranking than Rio Olympian Lois Toulson - and is a talent to watch in the years leading up to the 2020 Olympics.

She was recently selected as a member of the Great Britain team, at the European Junior Diving Championships from June 26 to July 2 in Bergen, Norway.

It all started when coaches from Bradford Esprit Diving Club, based at Shipley Swimming Pool, visited Holly’s primary school. “They tested us on things like forward rolls and the splits,” she says. “I had been doing gymnastics since I was four so I was already quite good at these things.

“I was selected to take diving lessons for a trial period and was then selected to join the club. I did not know anything about diving before, this so it was a bit of a surprise.”

She began at Shipley and Eccleshill pools, learning lots of basic skills outside the pool - dry land training - then practising poolside and building up to the lower boards first and then the higher boards.

“Once you are able to master certain skills you can put them together to learn easier dives and gradually build up to more difficult dives,” she says.

She recalls her first competition. “It was the Tynemouth Trophy, when I was eight and had been diving for about six months - I came fifth. I did my second competition at Shipley Novices a few months later at our own pool and came first, which was so exciting.”

Now 14, Holly has come a long way, and, earlier this year she competed against the best of British diving talent.

The Titus Salt School pupil travelled to Plymouth to take part in the British Diving National Cup. The prestigious event brings together the best divers in the country including Olympians and gold medallists Tom Daley, Jack Laugher and Chris Mears. It is used as a qualification event for the Diving World Cup as well as many senior and junior international events.

Holly put in a fantastic performance in the Women's Open Platform category, perfecting advanced ten metre dives often performed by senior athletes. The youngest diver in the event, she wowed everyone by coming fourth overall and was ranked second top junior diver in the country.

Holly also competed in the Women's Open three metre event, coming eleventh and narrowly missing out on the final.

Dedicated to her sport, Holly currently trains for 19.5 hours a week. “I train every day after school and also have two sessions before school which start at 5.30am. I also have two sessions on Saturday but then have Sunday off,” she says.

“I mainly train at Shipley near my home, but I also have three sessions a week at John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds. “Unfortunately, Shipley only has boards up to five metres so I need to train at Leeds to practice my dives off the 7.5 metre and ten metre boards. It also means I get to train alongside some of the best divers in GB, including Jack Laugher and Chris Mears, which is great experience.”

Holly is coached by Joe Meszaros, head coach at Esprit Divers. Joe was born in Bradford and later coached in Australia, returning to his home city last year. She was also taught for a number of years by coach Becky Lee.

Holly has been diving off the ten metre board since she was 12, and first competed off it aged 13. “I still find it scary now but that's also what makes it fun,” she says.

In March she took part in the 7 Nations International Youth Diving Meet - her first selection to the junior GB diving team. She won gold and silver in her two events.

She looks back on many highlights of her career to date. “One was when I won my first Junior Elites gold medal in 2014 - I was one of the youngest divers there and had only recently learned some new dives off the 7.5 metre board. It was one of those times when everything seemed to go perfectly. Another was when I won my first international gold medal in Rome at a competition with the England Talent team. The most recent highlight was at the National Cup when I came fourth overall in my first senior platform competition.”

“I love the feeling when I have done really well in a competition and everyone is cheering and I am really happy. I also love it when I finally achieve something on which I have been working hard, such as a new dive.”

Her school has been very supportive. “It can be hard to fit schoolwork around training but they have been really helpful - they let me leave a bit early twice a week so I can get to Leeds for training and they have also allowed me time off to attend competitions. My friends understand that I train a lot and can't always meet up, but we make the most of the times we can get together.”

Family support is also vital. “My parents drive me to and from training all of the time and sometimes take me to competitions around the country,” says Holly, who has a sister Caitlin.

Holly is increasing the difficulty of her dives to compete with the best divers in the UK. “I am taking one step at a time, and will see where it takes me,” she says.

Parents Tim and Julie are very proud. “It’s amazing to watch her dive and we are so happy she has got selected for the junior GB team,” says Julie, who helps to chaperone the young divers at competitions. “But we are even more proud of her hard work and commitment and how she comes back fighting when things don't go so well.

“My heart is in my mouth when I watch her dive off 10 metre and I get more nervous at competitions than she does, but we love watching.”

When the club is on the lookout for new talent, coaches look for physical attributes such as natural flexibility, power, agility, coordination and any prior learning such as gymnastics, explains Joe Meszaros. “Above all though, they need a mentality which shows determination, the ability to push past fear barriers and a drive for success.”

“You need to be extremely committed. Some young children who enter into our programme start training on six hours a week. When you reach Holly’s standard it is almost 20 hours a week plus time away at national camps and competitions.”

He sees a bright future for Holly. “Recently Holly was placed fourth in the British National Cup and was ranked second top junior diver in the country. A very impressive feat bearing in mind that Holly was the youngest diver in the event and is also based at a five metre training facility. At Dresden Youth International Meet she finished fourth in the one metre final and narrowly missed gold in the three metre final."

Other promising Bradford athletes include 18-year-old Evie Webb “She has produced some impressive results over the time I have worked with her,” says Joe.

Andrew Burns, business development manager for sport & culture at Bradford Council, praised Holly’s performance in the British Diving National Cup.

“Joe's coaching expertise is already rubbing off and showing fantastic results. It is great to see waves of junior divers stepping up through the ranks and challenging for various teams.”

* For more information visit bradford.gov.uk/sport-and-activities/swimming/diving/