Lewis Neilson, a nine-year-old from Silkstone Common, won a gold medal in the Swim England Diving National Skills Finals at the London Aquatic Centre.
He finished 30 points clear of the rest of the 23-strong field – which included divers from Edinburgh, Plymouth, Southampton, Leeds and a guest from Dubai – on the same day that one of his heroes, Tom Daley, won the World Championships at senior level.
His mother Claire said: "His coach thinks he might have broken the record for the highest score ever for that age group. We were so proud that Lewis was in the competition and to win the event was an unbelievable achievement, given that Lewis has only been diving for 15 months. He's done fantastically well and it's great to see how much he enjoys the sport too."
Lewis, who attends Silkstone Common Junior School, started diving after switching sports from gymnastics and had never competed in a national event before.He said: "At the start of the competition, I was aiming to beat my personal best, which I smashed by about 70 points. My scores included fifteen nines, six 9.5s and a ten."I was really pleased with my performance and to get the gold medal was fantastic. I really enjoy diving and love the feeling of making a no-splash entry into the water, which is called a rip. My ambition is to one day become Olympic champion."
