JACK LAUGHER had a double cause for celebration as he claimed two titles at the British Gas Diving Championships in Plymouth.

Laugher, who is from Ripon, won the 3m springboard title and teamed up with Chris Mears to follow up the pair’s Commonwealth Games success with another triumph in the 3m synchro.

Laugher’s individual triumph saw the North Yorkshire diver showcase a new high-difficulty dive that he has adopted for the 2015 season – a front two-and-a-half somersaults with triple twists piked – and he finished the final with a score of 462.65.

“I did two pretty decent lists throughout the day,” said Laugher, who is a member of the City of Leeds club. “In the final my first two dives were probably the best I’ve ever done them, then things went downhill a little bit, but I tested out a new dive and it’s the first time I’ve ever done it in competition.

“I think it’s the first time a British male has done it, and I got 91 points in it which is pretty cool. I’ve still got plenty of stuff to work on and it’s still pretty early in the season.”

Mears won silver with a score of 454.20, and Sheffield’s Jack Haslam claimed bronze.

Laugher teamed up with Mears to win the pair’s first British title together, and they were the dominant duo throughout all six rounds of the synchro final.

Their highest scoring dive was a front four-and-a-half somersaults tucked, which secured them 82.08 points, and they finished with an impressive score of 410.28.

The triumph was the ideal start to an important year, which will build towards the World Championships in Russia, a competition that offers an opportunity to gain an automatic place at next year’s Olympics in Rio.

“We’ve got six World Series legs to do together, first out in China in a couple of weeks’ time,” said Laugher. “And then we have the World Championships later in the year out in Kazan.

“It’s a great pool, I’ve dived out there before, and it’s the first time we can qualify Great Britain a spot for the Olympics.”