IT MAY have gone under the radar, but Wilsden's Ruby Bower has produced one of the shocks of the sporting summer.

In only their fourth time they have competed together, 17-year-old Ruby and City of Leeds clubmate Phoebe Banks, who are both still juniors, won the European senior ten-metre platform synchro title at their first attempt in Kiev.

The former Bradford Esprit diver from Wilsden and 16-year-old Banks kept their composure to score 299.19 points, moving up from second with a front three-and-a-half somersault with pike final dive, which scored 72.90 points.

It was good enough to relegate Olympian Yulia Timoshinina and Valeriia Belova (Russia) into the runners-up berth with 297.00, with the Ukraine's Valeriia Liulko and Sofiia Lyskun taking bronze with 288.96.

The British pair dived consistently throughout, building a solid platform with 97.20 after their two required elements.

Bower and Banks then piled the pressure on the Russians in the first round of optionals, scoring 65.25 for their forward two-and-a-half somersaults with two-and-a-half twists piked to move 0.15 off the lead.

Another 63.84 for their inward two-and-a-half somersaults piked saw the Brits into a 3.21 point lead as the Russians faltered with their penultimate effort.

"This was a completely surprising end for us," said Bower.

"As the youngest duo in this competition, we would never have expected to win, especially since this was one of our first synchro competitions together, but we also have the same dives in our individual programmes so it was not too difficult for us to repeat that in the synchro competition."

They were only the second British pair to win the event, following Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow in 2012.

The Leeds divers' result saw them become just the second British pair in history to land the women's 10m Synchro title at a European Championships. Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow were the first to achieve the feat in 2012.

It capped an incredible six weeks for former Eldwick Primary School and Bradford Grammar School pupil Ruby, who is now studying at Beckfoot School.

As well as taking European gold with Phoebe, Ruby has also shone on the ten-metre platform individually, becoming British junior champion ahead of Banks (to complete a triumph in all three age groups), winning a junior international in Dresden for a second successive year and finishing runner-up in the British senior nationals.

Meanwhile, Cleckheaton's Lois Toulson (City of Leeds) won the women's platform final in Kiev to start off Britain's gold rush.

Bower and Banks went on to claim silver in the platform synchro at the European Junior Championships in Bergen, Norway.

The City of Leeds pair lay outside the medals with two dives to go but forced their way onto the podium with a well-executed finish that put them just a point off gold.

Ukrainians Sofiia Lyksun and Valeriia Liulko won gold with 275.22, with Banks and Bower taking silver on 274.17 Russians Irina Astashkina and Polina Saekova getting bronze with 270.00.

Former Esprit member William Hallam and Anthony Harding were fifth in the boys' B three-metre synchro final with 294.40.