Whitcliffe Mount girl makes waves

Whitcliffe Mount pupil Lois Toulson bagged a score of 352.90 in platform diving at the FINA World Junior Diving Championships in Penza.

She qualified earlier in the year when she achieved gold in the European Junior Championships in Bergamo, Italy.

Lois said: “It was really busy, all the seats were taken , so I was really nervous.

“When I got silver, I was just really happy.” Her parents were watching via a video stream.

Inspired after seeing diving on the television, Lois has trained for eight years with the City of Leeds team at the John Charles Centre for Sport in Beeston.

She dives for three hours each day, except Mondays, and puts in an extra hour’s graft every Saturday.

A spokesman for Whitcliffe Mount said: “The entire school community are immensely proud of Lois.

“Her achievements in diving are phenomenal. Everything she has achieved and got out of the sport is just reward for the incredible amount of time, energy and effort she continues to put in to her training.”

Lois now wants to pursue a career in the sport, and hopes to qualify for the European games again next year.

Gold in Penza was taken by Chinese competitor Song Anxin, who netted a score of 394.10. In third place, with 351.05, was Li Jinming, also of China. The tournament was held September 9 to 14.