INUVIK - In order to reign supreme in the cannonball competition, nine-year-old Jackson Smith knew he had to dig deep for the performance of a lifetime.

Participants in the cannonball competition take one final plunge together at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex on Saturday. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Instead of crumbling under pressure during Saturday's competition at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex, Jackson nailed it. It all came together.

He got the terrific running start he had wanted to generate enough power to thrust himself so high off the pool's edge so that he could tuck his arms and legs neatly into his body.

Moments after contact, all hell broke loose. Water shot up into the air, waves ripped against the pool's perimeter. With that he knew he won over the judges. And he was right; he won first place in his age category. Jackson said he knew he had it from the start.

"I knew I was going to win," he said. "I've been doing this for a long time."

Tony Devlin, event judge, said he was amazed by Jackson's talent and the some 15 to 20 participants aged three to 12-years-old.

"There's technique, there's personality, there's also attitude and haircuts," he said.

"To see some of those three and four-year-olds almost upstage the 10 and 11-year-olds, that certainly speaks to the levels of competition in Inuvik," he added, tongue-in-cheek

Five-year-old Hunter Cockney may not have won the competition on points, but in his mind he won his own victory.

"I jumped in the deep end," he said with a smile.

With the aid of a life jacket and some coaxing from lifeguard and event co-ordinator Dave MacDonald, he made the plunge.

Doing it made him feel a lot more confident. But he's not so sure he'll compete in the next cannonball affair.

"No, he said. "Maybe when I grow up I'll do it with my brother."