Rookie Red Bull Cliff Diving Series competitor Mat Cowen celebrated his best performance yet after finishing seventh in Italy last weekend.

The 25-year-old diver, who hails from Cross Roads near Keighley, has been on the up since his first-ever series event in La Rochelle, France, where he finished in last place.

Top-ten finishes in Denmark and Portugal then saw Cowen climb up the overall rankings but his performance at Scaliger Castle at Malcesine, on Lake Garda, topped the lot.

Cowen finished on 399.40 points, over 100 more than his previous event and more than twice as many than in France.

And Cowen was overjoyed with his performance, saying: “It was certainly a big improvement from me from where I was at the start of the year.

“What’s really let me down so far is my first dive but this time I did a lot better, which put me in the middle of the pack for the head-to-heads.

“I then only lost by 20 points to Michal Navratil, who finished fourth, so I was up there challenging this time and was only about 60 points off a podium place.

“All the other guys have told me that the first season as a diver is a write-off really, so just to get this experience is vital to me.

“To be improving so much on top of that is not what anyone expected and I’m really looking to continue on this learning curve and push myself into that magical top eight by the end of the year.”

Cowen was also delighted to perform so well in a country where he holds such fond memories.

He said: “Italy for me is a special place anyway. It was the place where I got my first diving contract at 17 so it was where my journey really started.

“We’re almost at the half-way point now and we’ve just finished the first European leg and I’ve visited some of the most beautiful places in the world.

“There’s no better way to experience life than by travelling and seeing the world and, with what I’m doing at the minute, there’s no better way to do that.”

An 18,000 crowd at Lake Garda saw David Colturi win the fourth event of the series, edging out close friend and fellow American Steven LoBue.

Stop 4, Italy results: 1 David Colturi 469.40, 2 Steven LoBue 467.00, 3 Gary Hunt 463.95, 4 Michal Navratil 448.00, 5 Orlando Duque 427.30, 6 Jonathan Paredes 417.30, 7 Mat Cowen 399.40, 8 Anatoliy Shabotenko 336.10, 9 Kris Kolanus (Wildcard) 332.95, 10 Artem Silchenko 249.90.

Overall standings: 1 Hunt 650, 2 Silchenko 540, 3 Duque 490, 4 Colturi 400, 5 Paredes 380, 6 Navratil 360, 7 LoBue 260, 8 Blake Aldridge 240, 9 Cowen 138, 10 Kolanus (Wildcard) 100, 11 Shabotenko 100.