2012 London Oylmpics Personalties

Tom Daley Profile British Olympic Diver

Swimming Career & Achievements

Thomas Robert Daley was born in Plymouth in Southwest England on the 21st of May 1994 to parents Debbie and Robert Daley. Tom has two brothers William and Ben and was raised in a supportive and stable family environment. Daley grew up idolising French Canadian diver Alexandre Despaite who  as well as retired British diver  Leon Taylor from Sheffield, England.  Daley began diving at age 7 and  won his first medal at the tender age of just 8 years old when he competed at the National Novice Championships in April 2003. Daley would begin to make a mark amongst a wider audience with his victory in the Southampton invitational event  where he was victorious in the 1 and 3 Metre platform events.

In June of 2004 just a few weeks after Daley turned ten years old he would win the Platform competition at the National Championship for Under 18 year olds, this achievement made Daley the youngest ever winner of that event and his star was on the rise. Daley was good enough to compete at the 2006 Commonwealth games but due to the fact he was still only 12 years-old, the English team decided not to select him. 2006 would turn out to be a great year for Tom though as he was the British under 18 champion in 3m springboard and ten metre platform. Daley was to upset the odds at the 2007 Senior Championships as he came second as the 12 year-old was the runner up in the Ten Metre Platform event.

In 2007 Daley’s phenomenal success continued as he  won his first senior title at the 2007 Amateur Swimming Athletics National Championships. Daley became a teenager in 2007 and celebrated by winning the prestigious 2007 Young Sports personality Of The Year Award. Daley was becoming a national treasure and charmed the public with his baby face looks and well spoken manner. In 2007 he also began to take part in FINA’s International diving Grand Prix and World series events finishing a respectable fourth on tow occasions in individual competition.

In 2008 a 13 year-old Daley scooped his first  senior British title  in the 10 Metre platform event in addition to winning the 10 Metre Platform Synchro title with his new diving partner the 25 year-old Londoner, Blake Aldridge.

Daley was to win his first FINA medals  as he landed the bronze medal in individual competition and went one better with a silver medal in the  Synchro at the Madrid Grand Prix. Daley and Aldridge were enjoying a fruitful partnership and  they would make history in the 2008 Diving World cup as  they won the Bronze medals with a British record time. The records just kept on coming and in  the European Championships of 2008 held in Eindhoven , Daley became the youngest ever gold medallist at the age of just 13 years-old. The youngest winner before him was Scottish athlete Ian Black was a whole four years older than Daley, proving what a unique revelation this young man had become.

Daley made his first appearance at an Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 at the age of 14. Daley competed in the Synchro Diving event with Aldridge but could only manage to finish 8th and in the 10 Metre individual event he finished seventh. Daley would go on to retain his Young Sports Personality of the year Award and was steadily becoming one of Britain’s most famous athletes.

In 2009 Daley would go on to retain his British crown after he set his own personal best score of 517.55 points which was an impressive  133.45 points ahead of his nearest competitor. Unfortunately Daley was unable to defend his Synchro title with Blake Aldridge as Aldridge had controversially and frustratingly for Daley been injured in a fight outside a nightclub  just days before the Championships. In March of 2009 Daley was to improve his personal best score as notched up 540.70 points in a third place finish at the Diving World Series event held in China.

Daley’s father Robert had become increasingly frustrated with the disruptive behaviour of his son’s diving partner Aldridge and so in April 2009 Daley forged a new partnership with fellow teenager Max Brick. As a team Brick Daley and Brick  won a Silver Medal at the 10 Metre Synchronised event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Daley achieved personal success as well as he  recorded a new personal record score of 554.90 points.

At the British Championships in 2010 Daley unveiled his new 5255B dive [Back Two and a half somersaults, back two and a half twists] to the world  which gave him a 3.6 tariff dive but he just missed out  to diving veteran Peter Waterfield who claimed first prize. At the 2010 FINA Diving World Series event in Qingdao, China, Daley showed the diving world his two new dives  and finished in 4th place with his best points tally of 2010, 520.35. In the summer of that year Daley competed at the European Championships in Budapest with the intention of defending his title successfully. Unfortunately though Tom suffered an injury to his triceps muscle and was forced to withdraw from both the 10 Metre Synchro event and the Individual event.

Daley managed to bounce back in time for the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore but he was not at his best and finished in a disappointing ninth place. Daley was to achieve huge success at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Dehli, India. Tom and his diving partner Max Brick won gold in the 10 Metre synchronised event and Daley triumphed in individual competition  as he claimed the gold medal in the 10 Metres. At the end of 2010 Daley crowned off another fantastic year  with a record breaking third Young Sports Personality of the year award. The young man from Plymouth became the first  person to win this esteemed accolade on three separate occasions.

Daley was teamed up with a new partner for the 2011 season the 2004 Olympic gold medallist Peter Waterfield. The new pairing would achieve instant success as they won the 10 metre Synchronised event at the British National Championship held in Southend, Essex. Waterfield would then go on to defeat his new partner in the 10 Metre springboard event and his old diving teammate Max Brick finished a place behind Daley in third.

Daley didn’t have the best of World Championships in 2011 as Waterfield was struck down with a flu related illness and the pair only managed to finish 6th in the Synchronised competition. Daley finished a disappointing 5th place in the individual event racking up a low score of 505.10 points. Daley made more history on the 27th of July 2011 when he was the first athlete to take a dive in London’s new Olympics Aquatics centre built for the 2012 Summer Olympics in Stratford, East London. After taking the first dive in these new facilities, Daley had this to say to the press: ‘Marking the one year to go by diving in the Aquatics Centre is an incredible honour. Only a few years ago this was a distant dream. I can’t wait for next year and the honour of representing Team GB.

Tom Daley Personal Life

Tom was to suffer a personal tragedy in May 2011 when he lost his loving father Robert to a brain tumour. Tom was understandably devastated by this loss but h3e has declared he is now even more  determined to win gold at the London Olympics in honour of his biggest supporter. Tom attended Crookhorn College of Technology in Waterlooville between the ages of 11 and 14 and became an ambassador for the  NSPCC charity Childline as it was an issue he felt strongly about having suffered from bullying in his formative years which had been so bad that it temporarily forced him to leave education.

Daley has an outstanding academic record as he obtained 1 A and a phenomenal 8 A stars in his GCSE examinations. Tom has now begun his A-levels and is studying Maths, Photography and Spanish. Tom was romantically linked with young Women’s Tennis star Laura Robson, there were no substance to those rumours but this charming young man is still eager to meet the woman of his dreams.

The Baby face star confesses to having a sweet tooth for Ice Cream and Haribo Sweets. He is a member  of the infamous Plymouth Diving Club in his home town and they are specialists in Springboard and High diving. Tom is one of Britain’s biggest hopefuls at the 2012 London Olympics and this remarkable young man has the opportunity to win  his first Olympic gold medal on Athletics biggest stage