CITY of Bradford Esprit, buoyed by four gold medals, finished second behind the hosts in the Sheffield Santa Skills event at Ponds Forge.

Day one was for the younger competitors, with ten members aged between seven and 11 representing Bradford.

Scott Holmes (231.30 points), Tom Blenkinsop (228.95) and Ben Mullet (204.05), who are all 11, were in boys' Group D, with Tom and Ben missing out on the final that evening. But Scott won, despite only qualifying sixth.

Esprit's youngest girls were in the Mini E category and eight-year-olds Eleanor Sharpe (114.50), Scarlett Tomlinson (129.60) and Abbie Hindle (161.10) had a great preliminary, as did Melissa Baraclough (127.50), who is just seven.

Melissa tried out her newest dive – a backwards tuck roll from the three-metre board. But Abbie – who not only qualified for the final but performed so well that she scored her first-ever ten for a straight fall from three metres – finished with the gold medal.

Complete with festive headgear, the Esprit divers opening the event were Owen Taylor (147.70), Lawrence Plowman (149.80), who are both eight, and seven-year-old Sidney Brooke (118.60).

They performed six skills each, Lawrence and Owen reaching the final where they finished third and fourth respectively.

Day two was another Christmas cracker for Bradford Esprit, with gold medals for Ben Patrick, who is 14, and national champion Owen Passmore, 13.

Ben won boys' Group B comfortably, outscoring his rivals in terms of quality and tariff, while three members won through to the boys' Group C finals – 13-year-old Harry Spencer (239.30), 12-year-old Joseph Nicol (247.30) and Owen (247.95) taking the top three preliminary spots.

Unfortunately, Joseph sustained a muscle injury after his second dive and withdrew. But Harry finished second and Owen dived with such high quality that he scored nines on his final dive – a back fall straight – and took gold.

Koben O'Driscoll, nine, qualified for his final in the first event of the day with a score of 221.80, eventually coming second.

The girls' group D followed this event and was the largest overall, with 22 entered.

Verity Burns (218.25) and Imogen Tomlinson (219.30), both 11, and ten-year-old duo Freya Daines (197) and Rosa Scally (194.30) all gave steady performances but just missed out on the finals.

Bradford Esprit finished second overall with 156, Sheffield scoring 210.

If you would like to learn to dive, call 01274-438787. Holiday courses are available and there are lessons for children, teens and adults.