Intrepid youngsters, the elite of the City of Leeds team, plunged from the 10m board into the pool.

"Some of these divers are prospects for both the Beijing and London Olympics," said Ian Waller, sports operations manager for the city.

The new aquatic centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport in south Leeds was visited for the first time by leisure supremo Coun John Procter.

He said: "I am thinking of bring my little boy and girl because the children's changing facilities are fantastic. Often this is a problem with pools – where do you put youngsters while you change?

"But here there are soft play pens where you can place your children ."

Coun Procter was taken on a tour of the facilities whose technology is more advanced than the Sheffield pool where the World Student Games have been held.

The centre boasts the best synchronised diving facilities in Europe, the 10m high boards being built specifically to accommodate two divers performing together.

The 15.5m deep diving pool has a floor of dark blue tiles which contrast with the lighting and help the divers' awareness. They can use a suspended harness to allow them to practice diving manoeuvres like spins in mid-air.

Centre managers activated a "bubble" system which blasts air through the water and creates a jacuzzi effect.

"This softens the impact of the dive," said Mr Waller, "and is useful when divers are trying something experimental. The water can seem very hard when you are falling at 32m per second."

Coloured tiles on the floor of the main pool mark out the lanes and enable swimmers to locate where they are.
The main pool can be divided into three separate pools of different sizes by using submersible booms (walls). These make a flexible swimming programme possible. The depth can also be adjusted by a movable floor.

Doors at the aquatic centre will open to the public from 6.45am next Monday. It is expected to attract 300,000 visitors a year.
The centre is capable of hosting regional and sub-regional competitions and perhaps even world events at junior level. But it is not primarily an event centre. There is seating for 750 people whereas a true competition venue can seat 3,000.

The aquatic centre will be officially opened by a VIP before the end of the year and local swim stars like Olympic gold medallist Adrian Moorhouse are expected to attend.