Southampton’s Gary Hunt was left frustrated despite extending his lead in the 2013 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

Hunt finished third at Lake Garda in Italy in the fourth round of this year’s competition.

Despite increasing his lead over second-placed Artem Silchenko to 110 points, Hunt wasn’t entirely happy with his performance: “It’s frustrating to have done three dives that I’m a little bit disappointed with and then to have been so close to the top spot, but that’s the name of the game,” he said.

“The positives that I will take from this competition are feeling the most comfortable I’ve ever felt on a platform and now I know I can just concentrate on my dives.

“This competition was good for me in terms of the overall points. It’s one of my goals this year to make sure that I stay on the podium and be consistent – that might be enough to take the title.”

In front of more than 20,000 spectators Hunt finished behind Americans David Colturi and Steven LoBue on a sweltering afternoon.

Colturi won his first ever world series event by just 2.40 points, 469.40 to 467.00, with Hunt close behind on 463.25 points.

The series now enters a six-week break before it heads to Boston, USA with Hunt sill on track for his fourth consecutive championship victory.