Tom Daley, all 5ft 2in of him, stands tall today as the European 10 metres diving champion still two months short of his 14th birthday.

Daley became the youngest winner of the title after flawless dives in rounds four and five in Eindhoven took his overall tally to 10 perfect 10 marks during the competition.

The 13-year-old from Plymouth, who later this year will become the second-youngest British male to compete in the Olympics, finished with a total of 491.95 points, ahead of Germany's Sascha Klein on 487.60 and Francesco Dell'Uomo, of Italy, on 481.30.

"It was just an absolutely amazing experience," Daley said. "I missed one of my dives and to still be able to get the 10s after that, I really didn't expect it."

Daley, who was only sixth after three rounds, added: "Normally I can do that [third] dive a lot better and because I didn't, I did get a bit worried, and knew I had to turn it around.

"To finish up and be standing on the top of the podium with your national anthem playing is not something that happens every day. If it seems as if I was without nerves I can tell you I have nerves, and they were quite tense."

Meanwhile, in the Eindhoven pool, Britain's women's 4x100metres medley relay team of Lizzie Simmonds, Kate Haywood, Jemma Lowe and Fran Halsall also struck gold as they defended their title with a new European record time of 3min 59.33sec.

It was the third swimming medal for Britain after David Davies, in the 1500m freestyle, and the women's 4x200m freestyle squad both claimed silvers.