James is making a real splash ..just like grandad!

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 08:35

FOR most aspiring athletes, having their grandfather watch as they compete may add slightly to the pre-event nerves.

When he is a legend in the very sport you are attempting to excel at, the pressure really mounts.

But the presence of Sir Peter Heatly, 85, the Commonwealth Games three-times gold-winning diver from Leith, did nothing to distract his grandson James as he became the youngest ever champion at the Scottish Springboard Championships in Newbattle Pool, Newtongrange.

It means 12-year-old James, a George Watson's pupil, has won the trophy his grandfather picked up 11 times between 1946 and 1957, and now a promising career is in store for the Edinburgh Diving Club member.

Sir Peter, a former chairman of the Commonwealth Games Committee, said: "He has a real passion for the sport and he seems to be thinking about it all the time.

"I have never been involved in training him myself, but he always had a natural interest in diving and trains really hard."

James trains five times a week and is just one of many young talents in the club, which has relocated from the Commonwealth Pool as it undergoes its revamp.

His father, Robert, added: "It was great that James managed to emulate his grandfather and win the trophy. He has worked hard on his diving over the last year and his scores are showing that."

Sir Peter won Commonwealth Games gold medals at the 1950, 1954 and 1958 events and is a member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.

As well as praise for James, there were also kind words from his father about how the club had adapted to its new surroundings.

He said: "There was a lot of concern about the closure of the Commonwealth Pool.

"However, a number of parents from Edinburgh Diving Club did a huge amount of fundraising to help with the relocation of the boards to Newbattle and training numbers have remained high."

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