Southampton Diving Academy has called for action with the facility facing possible closure after 25 years, despite its links to Olympic medallists.

It comes after Southampton City Council’s sub-contractor, Active Nation, ceased trading last month, with Places Leisure stepping in to operate the facility until the current contract ends on August 31.

Negotiations between the council and Places Leisure to agree a three-year extension broke down last month, with the council overseeing a tender process to find a new contractor.

Former Olympic diver, Lindsey Fraser, founded the diving academy in 2000 and remains a president of the club.

She told the Echo people from all over the world travel to Southampton to make use of the facility and that she didn’t want to see it “cease to exist.”

She added: “It’s a huge draw for people and it gives children huge experiences and teaches them good discipline.

“I’ve seen first-hand the difference it can make an impact it has on people.

“Diving is a fabulous sport where boys and girls train together and it can be quite dangerous, so anytime someone does something well, everyone applauds.

“It would be awful if the academy was to disappear.”

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Should the diving academy be lost, the nearest alternative for members would be either Plymouth or the London Aquatics Centre.

Pete Waterfield (an Olympic silver medallist), Max Brick, and Blake Aldridge have all trained at the academy and have gone on to represent Team GB alongside Tom Daley.

Chair of Southampton Diving Academy, Gary Prewitt, said the club – which is situated at The Quays Swimming and Diving Complex – is hopeful a new contractor would be found but that there were “no guarantees.”

Speaking to the Echo, he said: “We’re hopeful the council will find a new contractor, but nothing has been guaranteed.

“There are only seven 10m diving boards in the country and we have one of them, we are a beacon of diving in the South East.

“We’re really proud of what we do and have 85 competitive divers in the academy, but everything is up in the air at the moment.

“Lots of parents are asking us for clarity but we don’t know what the future holds. We're planning ahead but we don't know what we're planning for. We’re counting in days rather than weeks.”

To try and secure the facility’s future, Gary has upcoming meetings with both Southampton Itchen MP, Darren Paffey, and Romsey and Southampton North MP, Caroline Nokes.