PLYMOUTH’S Aidan Heslop claimed the bronze medal at the High Diving World Cup in Bahrain on Sunday.

The 22-year-old, who is the reigning world champion, finished just 4.2 points behind winner Constantin Popovic and 2.4 points behind American runner-up James Lichtenstein at the World Aquatics event.

The trio are currently battling it out for the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series title, which Heslop leads with two stops to go.

At the weekend, Heslop just left himself too much to do after the opening round where he found himself down in 15th place.

He moved up to fifth after the second round and he was fourth before his final dive, a show-stopping 6.2 DD (a forward quad with three-and-a-half twists) which scored 139.50 points to put him in podium position and put the pressure on Lichtenstein and Popovic.

Lichtenstein’s final dive was easier than Popovici’s and Heslop’s – a back quint with a 5.3 degree of difficulty – but he did it well to score 127.20 points, which edged him just ahead of Heslop with Popovici still to go.

Popovici was the last diver on the 27-metre tower. He needed 121.2 points to win. He was relying on his signature arm-stand back three-and-a-half somersaults with three twists (with a 6.0 DD). In the end, it earned 123.00 points – less than Heslop’s and Lichtenstein’s final dives – but his 408.00 grand total was just enough to win.

“Every year, the competition gets tougher,” said the 35-year-old Popovici. “I’m happy to have won, but it was definitely a close one. It’s been exciting.”

Heslop was happy to make the podium. He said: “I tried to put pressure on the other contenders and I managed to finish strong.”

The former Plymstock School pupil will be hoping to hit top form this coming weekend when the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series resumes in Antalya, Turkey.