JENNA Corke is the toast of Holcombe after helping the Great Britain ladies' elite team claim the gold medal at the Underwater Hockey World Championships, writes Dean Stacey.
Corke, who was brought up in the village but now lives in Exeter with her partner, was one of 12 players selected to represent GB at the tournament, which was held in Slovenia.
And the squad didn't disappoint, winning all five of their round robin games before beating South Africa 7-2 in the final, scoring 106 goals overall and conceding just nine.
'To beat them by that scoreline in the final was awesome – in the round robin stage, we only just beat them 5-4 in a tight match,' said the 25-year-old, who trains at the Dawlish Leisure Centre swimming pool in the winter with two other members of the victorious team, Sophie Tapper from Tiverton and Plympton's Jane Nevin.
'The atmosphere in the pool for the final was incredible. With all the other teams there cheering it was deafening.
'To get a gold medal for Great Britain was amazing.'
It was a case of third time lucky for Corke, who had previously helped the team to ninth place in Canada in 2002 and fourth in Sheffield three years ago.
She was quick to praise New Zealand-born coach Benson Taylor for the turnaround in fortunes.
'Benson was our main asset. He has really transformed the thinking and tactics in Great Britain underwater hockey,' she said.