• Happy...

Well, today is May 21st so we know what that means... Tom is officially 15 today! He has come SO SO SO far in the past year and I think we all know that he's got an extremely bright future ahead of him. Tom, you should be so proud of yourself for everything you've done in your career. It's amazing, especially considering you're young age and that you've still got so much of your career to go. I think it's safe to say that all of your fans are extremely proud of you and wish you all the best. So go out, have some fun, and just make today special for yourself 'cause you deserve it. Happy Birthday! :)

Today also happens to be special because it's the 1st anniversary of when Tom-Daley.org was opened! This site has come so far since AJ opened it last May and on behalf of myself and him, I just want to say thank you all so much for visiting this site. We both appreciate it so much! :)

Now while I'm here, I just want to apologize for my absence. Things have been pretty crazy for me lately and I've just not had as much time for an online life. Things are slowing down again though and the site will be back full-force very soon. I'm going to be ordering a new layout for the site later today since sadly my graphic skills have kinda been letting me down lately. =/ Hopefully the new layout will be up by the end of the month. I sincerely apologize for the extreme delay on that, I know you all have been waiting a long time for that. But soon though, soon. :) And once it's up, updates will resume and I'll do my best to get the site caught back up.

• Perfectionist Tom Daley will not fall short

""Staying in bed, lying in, going to town," says Tom Daley, as he sits in the balcony, surveying Plymouth's Central Park Pool, packed as it is with frolicking holiday-makers. For Daley, however, his Easter break consists of the following:

"Morning and afternoon in here. Sixty per cent dry land work, in an old squash court round the back. Lots of trampolining, fitness, weights, strength and conditioning.

"Then into the pool, lots of stuff off the lower boards, practising the individual parts of a dive. Plus maybe 12 full dives off the top board per session."

And this Saturday there is the small matter of appearing as Britain's leading representative in the World Series diving competition, to be held in Sheffield.

"Still," he adds, unleashing the megawatt smile that you suspect will, over the next few years, earn him a quid or two, "the thing is when they're all back at school, I'm off to Mexico and America for three weeks. That's the compensation. That's what I tell myself when I'm working."

As is clear from his hectic holiday routine, Tom Daley is far from an ordinary young boy of 14. Last Christmas, for instance, he switched on the decorative lights hereabouts and more than a thousand girls turned up and screamed continuously ("insane," is his father Bob's memory of the occasion; "quite funny" Tom's own take on it).

Which is something that has not happened to any 14-year-old since Donny Osmond was doing the illuminatory honours in the early Seventies.

Indeed at an age when most 14-year-olds are not much more than a maelstrom of competing hormones, Daley is already the best diver in the country, and, after finishing third in a recent international tournament, is now rapidly climbing up the world rankings.

Many – including the lad himself – reckon he has a chance of being at the very top before he is 18. Which, by a happy coincidence, would be in time for London 2012." [Read More]

• Britain's teenage sensation Tom Daley claims a bronze medal in China

"Britain's Tom Daley recorded his highest score in competition as he won bronze at the Diving World Series in Changzhou, China.

The 14-year-old claimed a notable scalp in the 10 metre platform event by pushing Australia’s Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham out of the top places.

He made a score of 540.70, with China's Luxin Zhou winning with a total of 560.00 and his fellow countryman Qiu Bo in second with 542.25.

Daley will now be full of confidence for the Sheffield leg of the series on April 18.

Daley endeared himself to the nation with a brilliant seventh placed finish in the 10m individual platform final at last summer's Beijing Olympics." [Source]

--------------

Huge congrats to Tom!!! :)

• Tom Daley severs link with Blake Aldridge

"Tom Daley, who became the youngest European diving champion last year, will “never dive again” with Blake Aldridge, with whom he fell out in the middle of their synchronised event at the Olympic Games last summer.

British Swimming has long maintained that Aldridge, 26, will be back and aiming to dive alongside Daley, 14, on the way to London 2012. But new, teenage partners have already been identified for the youngest member of the Great Britain team in Beijing.

Daley’s father, Rob, who criticised Aldridge in Beijing after the diver was seen talking on his mobile phone in between dives, said yesterday that he would not allow his son to partner Aldridge in future. “Tom will never dive with Blake again,” he said. “Blake is not a good influence on Tom.”

The teenager is on the World Series circuit, which begins in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, with the British round of the event to be held in Sheffield next month. The tour marks the first time that Daley has worked with Alexei Evangulov, the new British Diving performance director from Russia.

A British Diving source confirmed to The Times last night that Daley, 13 years and ten months when he won the European ten metres platform title in Eindhoven a year ago, is being lined up with new partners “with a view to a time when Blake decides to retire”.

Daley’s father is believed to have expressed concern over reports last month of a nightclub fracas in which Aldridge was left unconscious." [Source]

--------------

Thanks to Benjamin for sending me this article :)

• Tom Daley makes a splash at school

"Olympic diving star Tom Daley made a splash at a girls’ school in Caversham.

The 14-year-old 10m platform European Champion, who became Britain’s youngest Olympian since 1960 in Beijing last summer, treated 24 lucky students from Queen Anne’s School in Henley Road to a money-can’t-buy diving masterclass.

Daley, from Plymouth, was at the school after it won a nationwide competition through school meals provider Sodexo, correctly guessing that he trains for three-and-a-half hours every day.

The Olympian told the Post: “It’s been a real good experience coming here and all the girls here have done extremely well with what someone would do in 10 lessons in just 15 minutes.

“This is the first diving lesson I have taken and normally I’m the one who’s being shouted at by the coach, but I really enjoyed taking the sessions.

“It’s also definitely a plus coming to this school being full of girls.

“It’s nice to pass on the knowledge and show them how I do it, but I think I’ll be a diver for a little bit longer before becoming a coach.”

He added: “It’s great that Sodexo are doing this and putting across the image of healthy eating amongst schools as well as helping me do my diving and teaching other people.”

But with there being only five Olympic standard diving centres in the country, Daley said he reckoned Reading was some way off getting its first Olympic diver.

Student Olivia Paige said she had picked up a few new tricks from the young sportsman.

The 12-year-old said: “Tom was a really good teacher and was really clear about what he wanted us to do and we’ve also learnt about how to have a balanced diet.”

Another pupil, Charlotte Gibbon, 14, who admitted being a bit starstruck, said: “I learnt how to do a forward flip dive and a backward flip dive and I would never have been able to do that before.

“The best bit about the day was getting taught by Tom and meeting him, it was really good.”

Nicki Coombs, deputy head and director of swimming at Queen Anne’s, added: “Sport and encouraging our girls to lead fit, healthy lifestyles is an important part of what we do.

“We were thrilled to win the competition.

“All of our pupils have been excited for weeks and Tom didn’t disappoint. He was a real inspiration and the workshop was a huge success.” [Source]

---------------

Just thought I would let everyone know that I've turned the comments back on. :) Never mind. God I hate spammers.

• Inside Lines: 'Axed' Aldridge ready to splash out with new teen dive partner

"Britain's new Russian diving performance director, Alexei Evangulov, has a pressing matter in his in-tray when he takes up his post tomorrow. He must decide whether to end the partnership of Tom Daley and Blake Aldridge after a declaration by Tom's father, Rob, that the pair are finally out of synch.

Apparently this is a result of Aldridge , who had a famous falling out with the Daleys in Beijing, being beaten up in a Southampton nightclub. Daley Snr says he will not allow Tom, 14, "to be drawn into further controversy", but Aldridge, 26, is still hoping they can resume their twosome. "I've been told nothing about being axed and in any case it is up to the new director," he tells us. "I've been painted as the black sheep again but the attack was unprovoked. All I remember is stepping on to the dancefloor and waking up lying in a pool of blood." Three men have been arrested and will appear in court on assault charges. Aldridge adds: "The main thing is I'm fit and diving again. What happened shouldn't detract from our achievements. If the new man wants results, surely the best way is to keep us together." But if there is to be a parting of the waves, Aldridge says he could be challenging Daley with another schoolboy partner, the 16-year-old Max Brick. "In terms of prodigies he's the next best thing to Tom, and while he's not as consistent, this will come. We'd do well together." [Source]

• Plymouth divers star at home event

"Plymouth divers took their fair share of the spotlight during the Armada Cup competition held at the city's Central Park pool.

Olympian Tom Daley – as expected – added first place in the boys' one-metre springboard on Saturday to the golds he took in the platform and three-metre springboard events on the opening two days of the competition.

On all three occasions, he finished ahead of rival Jack Laugher, from Harrogate District Diving Club.

But there was also a place on the top podium for Plymouth Diving's Harry Glover. who won the boys' 16-plus platform final, ahead of Matthew Roberts from the Cambridge Dive Team.

Big names Tonia Couch and Brooke Graddon also starred in the competition.

Couch took first place in the girls' 16-plus platform final, followed by Graddon, with another star Plymouth diver, Emma Barrow, in fourth.

Graddon also recorded a third place, in the girls' A one-metre final, finishing behind winner Catherine Johnson from Reading's Albatross Diving Club and Jennifer Currie from Edinburgh Diving Club.

Plymouth's Kayleigh Sinclair and Shanice Lobb celebrated second and third places respectively in the girls' D one-metre final.

Lobb came third and Sinclair fourth in the girls' D three-metre final, won by Southampton Diving Academy's Chloe Pook and followed by Portia Angove.

Angove was a little too good for Lobb as she won the girls' D platform final from her Plymouth rival. Sinclair recorded a creditable fourth.

There were also bronze medals for Jenny Bunsell and Matthew Dixon." [Source]

• Daley dominates to retain title

"Teenage star Tom Daley set a new personal best score on his way to retaining his men's 10m platform title at the British Diving Championships.

Daley, 14, beat the World Championship qualification criteria mark of 1,200 with a combined total of 1,509.70.

His final total of 517.55 would have been enough for fourth place at last year's Olympic final in Beijing.

"It was my personal best score so I am really happy with that and it was good to get back into competition," he said.

The Plymouth teenager finished off his first set of six dives with a reverse three-and-a-half somersaults that earned the first 10 of the meet and helped him to 486.70 points - 115.5 clear of his nearest rival.

It was the same dive, and same judge, that rewarded him with another 10 in the semi-finals, this time on the way to a score of 505.45 - the first time he had broken the mark in senior competition.

He improved on that in the final, starting with a back two-and-a-half somersaults one-and-a-half twists piked dive that earned three awards of 10.

He scored more high marks on his inward three-and-a-half somersaults tucked to increase his lead further.

"With the 500 points it is a top barrier that I have always wanted to reach and now that I have gone through it in a proper competition it definitely boosts my confidence," he said.

But despite his good scores, Daley refused to think about the possibility of claiming a medal in Rome in July

"I'm not going there expecting anything again, it's a long way and my aim is 2012 and I need to learn some new dives," he said.

"But, if all goes well, you never know what can happen." [Source]

---------------

Huge congrats go out to Tom! It's really great that he's retained his title as well as that he's achieved his new personal best score! :)

Also, due to spam, I've had to turn off comments for now. Once the new layout is up (which will be soon, I promise!), the site will be switching over to Wordpress which is definitely a lot better at dealing with spam so hopefully this wont have to happen anymore after that.

• Hey Guys!

I'm Trystan, the friend AJ was talking about. I'm a huge fan of Tom, have been for a while now (AJ was actually the one who got me into Tom). But I'll be taking over the site from AJ and hopefully will be able to continue the great work he did on the site.

I'll be starting a new layout very soon and will hopefully have it up by the end of the month or so so keep an eye out for that.

Anyway, onto the update... I've added some photos to the gallery that were missed over the past couple of months. Photos from the Madagascar 2 UK Premiere, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, and then also a new photo from photo shoot Tom did recently. There are 17 in all and gotta say that Tom is super cute in all of them so enjoy. :)

011 x Appearances - 2008 - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa UK Premiere
005 x Appearances - 2008 - BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Awards
001 x Photo Shoots - Unknown 002

• A Few Things

First off, I just want to wish Tom, his family, and all of the visitors a Merry Christmas. I hope you all have a good time with your family and friends. :]

Second, I talked to my friend and he's agreed to take over the site. He said he's going to start work on a new layout and that you all can expect the site to be back to normal very soon.

And third, since I'm leaving the site, I just wanted to take a minute and thank all of the visitors for taking the time out to visit the site. I appreciate you all a lot. You've been really nice to me all throughout the time I was here and this site would be nothing without you guys. :]

Content Management Powered by CuteNews