A brand new dry-land diving studio was unveiled at The Quays Swimming & Diving Complex on Saturday 22 October by The Mayor of Southampton, Councillor Terry Matthews.

The opening ceremony for the new studio took place during the 10th Annual Southampton Invitational Diving Competition and was attended by members of Southampton Diving Academy, including Olympic hopefuls Peter Waterfield, Max Brick and Chris Mears with their coach Lindsey Fraser.

Local divers of all ages and abilities training at The Quays will now be able to enjoy the benefits of the new studio, which features new springboards and trampolines and improved harness and landing facilities, allowing them to perfect their skills in the studio alongside their training in the pool.

The new studio has been funded through contributions totalling £20,000 from Southampton Diving Academy, Southampton City Council and Active Nation.

Richard Sheath, Chairman of the Southampton Diving Academy, believes that the new Dive Studio will be a huge benefit to the ongoing success of diving in Southampton: "The opening of this new facility is an important step in maintaining Southampton and The Quays as a High Performance Centre for British Diving. Now more divers can practice their dives on springboards as well as on the trampoline - and our 'synchro' pairs can now practice together on dry land. The development of the facility also means that we can welcome Olympic teams from other countries to train

in Southampton in the run up to London 2012."

Mark Learnihan, Contract Manager for Active Nation Southampton, commented: "We are proud to have been able to work in partnership with Southampton Diving Academy and Southampton City Council to provide this facility for the local community, which would not have been possible without the support of all three partners."

"With such amazing facilities for diving at the venue we're delighted to give young people the opportunity to develop their talent and play a role in the future success of British Diving."