The omens are looking good for diving sensation Tom Daley and his Great Britain teammates as the London 2012 Olympics draws ever closer. In pouring over the stat books recently Sport.co.uk has noticed a promising trend: At the Sydney Olympics in 2000 the Australian men and women’s synchronised divers took bronze medals; next up at Athens in 2004 the Greek pair won the Men’s 3m Synchronized gold; and at Beijing 2008 there were no less than seven golds for the host nation.
Coincidence? Perhaps, but one thing is for certain: when Daley steps up onto that 10m-platform at the 17,500-capacity Aquatics Centre he will be one of the hot favourites to win gold and he will certainly have the weight of the nation behind him.
In 2008, at the age of just 14, Daley from Plymouth burst onto the world scene by winning the gold medal at the European Championships in Holland before qualifying for the Olympic final in the individual 10m-platform event. He was Britain’s youngest competitor and achieved a hugely impressive 7th place. It says everything about his good-natured attitude and impressive work ethic that four years later he will be looking to be amongst the medals in London.
Since then Daley has won World, European and Commonwealth titles and with three BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year awards to his name he is no longer just the darling of the Great British public, but a world class Olympic athlete and inevitably one of the faces of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Yet, speaking to him just after he gets home from school, which he continues to juggle with a demanding training schedule, you wouldn’t think the pressure was getting to him.
We caught up with the 16-year-old to talk about legs and faces going to jelly, bad jokes, Green Armies and Golden Balls. We also discussed the new fear-defying, somersaulting dive he is perfecting to wow the judges, the fate of the Olympic Stadium and how the Great British public can inspire Team GB medal hopefuls to greatness at London 2012.
Hi Tom, how are you today?
Yeah, not bad. I just got back from school.
Well in that case we will try not to keep you from your homework for too long. Now you’ve just competed in the British Gas National Cup in Southend and won the 10m synchronised competition. Is it good to be back competing in front of a home crowd?
It’s always good to be competing in front of a home crowd. It was the first time we’ve had a nationals which had sold out so it’s really exciting leading into 2012. If we can get the same sell-out crowd there it’s going to be an absolutely amazing atmosphere.
Last year in Delhi you won two Commonwealth gold medals in the synchronised and individual dives. Congratulations by the way. Which meant more to you?
They both mean the same. Obviously it was amazing to win my first ever Commonwealth gold medal in the synchronised event and to be able to share that moment with someone, to be on the podium with Max as the best of the Commonwealth, was great. Then doing it individually goes that one step further – being known as the best diver in the Commonwealth, not just the synchro. They’re both amazing experiences and most definitely moments I’m going to remember.
In Delhi you were paired with Max Brick. In Southend you were paired with Athens Olympic silver medallist Peter Waterfield. Is he the perfect partner for you in that event?
It’s a very new partnership between Pete and myself. It was our first competition we’ve started together and I think we were only about five or six points off what Max and I scored at the Commonwealth Games and that’s after Max and I did a lot of training together. So Pete and I are doing really well considering how much training we’ve done. We scored 114 points on the first two dives which is pretty much Chinese standard so we’re very happy with the way things are going at the moment.
We’ve read you’ve been practicing and perfecting a gravity and fear-defying dive with something like four-and-a-half somersaults involved. Have you got a few tricks up your sleeve for upcoming championships?
That’s the dive that either makes or breaks the competition. It’s just about making it as consistent as we can by training it and completing it as much as we can so that we’re comfortable and can do the dive when it matters.
So does fear just not come into it?
Well fear does come into it. Especially when you first learn it. Then you get more used to it the more you do it and you get more comfortable.
Because we know, speaking personally, when Sport.co.uk gets up there on the top board our legs just go to jelly. So what are you afraid of then?
I am scared every time I go up on the 10m to be honest. The adrenaline starts going and you definitely have to be on edge for what you need to do but every time I get up on the 10m everything’s new, everything’s different. So that still scares me [nervous laugh].
What a relief. You’ve made Sport.co.uk feel much better about ourselves. When you’re up on that board and make that first leap of faith is it all instinctive or are you meticulously thinking through every twist and turn?
Once I’m on the board I’m in the zone and I make sure I concentrate on what I’m doing. Going into the individual event you’re very focused on what you need to do whereas in your synchro event you try to talk to your partner as much as possible to try to feel relaxed. Especially in training as well with synchro, you have to try to get used to each other being on the board and knowing what the other person does. Then when you’re in competition you can just concentrate more on what you’re doing so you can do the best dive you can.
Next year is what it’s all about when the Olympics come to London – here’s a little interesting stat: At Sydney the Australian men and women’s synchronised divers took bronze medals; at Athens the Greek pair won Men’s 3m Synchronized gold; at Beijing there were seven golds for the host nation. The omens are good for Great British medals in London next year.
Definitely. Normally the home crowds do help a lot, especially with subjective sports. It’s just about going out there and making sure you dive as well as you can. Don’t let the home crowd be a pressure on you but think of it as something that’s going to help you through the competition. It can give you that extra motivation and drive to win the medals.
With your success you’re raising the profile of diving in Great Britain. We understand diving is huge in China as their medal haul attests; can you see it becoming as popular here?
I don’t know if it will be as popular here as it is in China but I’d love to think that. I know people love watching it when it’s on TV – or everyone who speaks to me says that anyway. It’s just about everyone finding a sport they love. There’s not just diving that people can get behind at the Olympics. There are lots of different sports. You can always find a sport that you like at the Olympics.
You’re likely to be the face of the 2012 Olympics for Great Britain. Have you ever imagined you’d be the centre of such attention at a global event?
It’s kind of weird to think about it like that because I’m just doing it because it’s something I enjoy doing. Something every sports person wants to be able to achieve is to go to an Olympic Games so to go to one in that position is strange and I don’t really think of it like that. I just concentrate on the training but it’s kind of cool, I guess.
Very cool, Tom. For Great Britain in past Olympics, Sydney was remembered for Steve Redgrave, Athens for Kelly Holmes and Beijing for Rebecca Adlington and Chris Hoy. Who will we be remembering for London 2012?
Well you never know. If I get my act together and dive well then you never know. The aim and dream is to win an Olympic gold medal. It’s just about going out there and focusing on the process of the dive and not the outcome goal too much.
Outside of you sport who do you feel will impress?
I think Jessica Ennis is doing amazingly well at the moment. There are a lot of people who are going to be up there. I think Chris Hoy and Becky Adlington will still be going strong. There’s going to be so many people doing well, especially with the home crowd’s support, I think we’re going to be a very strong nation.
Since bursting onto the world scene in the 2008 final in Beijing you’ve added World, European and Commonwealth titles and won BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year three times. Is there now a certain weight of expectation on your shoulders? Does it feel any different?
I guess there is expectation but I don’t really see it like that. I can only concentrate on my own training or competition and what I need to do. I can’t think about what other people say. I just go out there and try my best. If my best isn’t good enough on the day then so be it but I’m going to put everything I can into winning the medal.
With the BBC SPOTY you’re beginning to become part of the furniture there. At the 2010 awards was there anyone in particular amongst those British sporting icons you sought out for an autograph or introduction?
Well the Beckham’s were there which was quite good. When I went up on the stage for the first time he gave me a little wink and a wave which was quite strange – to think that David Beckham did that. But there were so many sporting heroes in that arena so it was great to see everyone and say hello to people you normally wouldn’t get to.
In terms of this fame we imagine every interview you get dwells on how you burst onto the scene at such a young age and are still not even 17. Do you feel that somehow overshadows your actual ability?
I guess not because with diving it doesn’t matter what age you are. If you get to a stage where you can do what all of the other people are doing when you’re so young then that’s what I’ve been working on. I’ve tried to get the hardest dives and aim to be as technically able as possible, as young as I can, to allow me to have a career at the highest level possible for as long as I can.
In that case do you feel you’ve had to mature a lot quicker than others your age?
Yeah, I guess so. But then it’s because I’m constantly around other diving people who are adults. I try to do everything like all the other senior divers and act like them because I’ve got to want to train and want to succeed and I’ve got to put all of my efforts into it.
Last time we spoke you mentioned your success in the sport has given you a few perks – such as a photo shoot with, and help on your GCSEs from, Kate Moss! Have you enjoyed any other perks like that recently?
Since then, I can’t even think now. With photography I’ve been doing lots of photo shoots as assistant photographer with people like Andy Hooper (who’s a Daily Mail sports photographer) and Simon Wright, so I’ve been able to go along to photo shoots with people. It’s [my career] just opened so many more doors. You get to go meet some amazing people and to think it’s all down to doing something I love is quite cool.
So as well as hurling yourself face-first off a board into water from a great height is photography another passion of yours?
Yeah it’s something I love doing. I’m taking it for an A-level. I find it quite therapeutic actually; it’s quite relaxing.
We imagine there are quite a few spectacular pictures of you diving off the top board...
Yeah there are quite a few pictures of me diving. We’ve got some round our house. Some of them look quite cool although my face is always screwed up in all of them.
It could be worse. It could be like the sprinters when their faces go like jelly.
Yes, that’s true.
There was a victory parade for you in your hometown of Plymouth after you won the 2009 world championship. A key to the city can’t be far away?
[Laughs] Well you never know. It’s great how much Plymouth have supported me, and all of the athletes in Plymouth. They’re always there to give all the support you need, especially when you come home from events. All of the people of Plymouth are really happy and get behind you. You can see everyone’s behind the sport in Plymouth, especially with the Olympics coming to London. Everyone’s really excited.
We read an interview you did with a national newspaper recently. You were telling jokes with your father Rob. You told the joke: “What do you call a deer with no eyes?” – No idea – “Ring a bell?
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. That was really awkward. They asked me if I could tell them a joke and I had no idea what joke to say. I said: “What do you call a deer with no eyes? No idea,” and all that – a really bad joke.
There’s two more parts; can you remember it?
I can’t really remember it because I was reading it off a text at the time.
Well we don’t want to steal your gag but here it is: What do you call a deer with no eyes and no legs?
Oh yeah, still no idea, wasn’t it.
Yes and the final part: What do you call a deer with no eyes, no legs and is on fire?
[Silence]
The punch line: still no flaming idea…ba dum tsh!
Aah yeah. [Forced laughter] Something like that.
Well it tickled us. Well done. Speaking of your family, how do they and your friends help you with your career?
They’re so supportive all the time; especially my mum and dad. They take me everywhere and are always there to give me support when I’m diving well, or diving badly. They’re always there to cheer me up.
Turning attention back to the London Games. The fate of the Olympic Stadium is a hot topic right now. Tottenham and West Ham are squabbling over it like school children over the last pancake. What do you think should be done about the stadium?
It should be open for everything really because I think there’s such a legacy left behind with the Olympic Games and anyone who gets to do a major sporting event in that stadium, given it is the venue for the actual Games, is going to be something to inspire people. To maybe train there, or play football there or compete in athletics World Championships there would be inspiring. There are so many things you can do inside that stadium.
So does that mean you would be leaning more toward West Ham’s plan of keeping the stadium and converting it to be suitable for football and athletics?
I think it would be good to leave it as an Olympic facility but I guess it’s always good to have the opportunity to play football there as well - as long as they can keep changing it between each one.
On the subject, do you support any football team?
I don’t like football actually. I don’t support any football team but my brothers support Chelsea.
Right. So not a hardened member of the Green Army [Plymouth Argyle’s followers]?
No, but I do go watch them sometimes.
Finally, what can we expect from Team GB in 2012?
I think as a team everyone’s going to come together and I think the whole of Great Britain just needs to get behind us and support us and keep the atmosphere as happy as possible for all of our athletes. Everyone’s going to go out there and try their best. With the support of them home crowd who knows what GB can bring home?
Definitely. Tom it’s been great speaking to you. Good luck with the diving, the photography and the stand-up.
Thank you. Bye.