• How the other half lives

"Diver Tom Daley, 14, is a European champion and is ranked sixth in the world in the 10-metre category. He will be Britain's youngest competitor in Beijing. He lives with his parents and two younger brothers in Plymouth; his father, Rob, has given up his job to help Tom, while fighting his own battle with cancer.

When I was a kid I liked jumping off rocks and cliffs. I thought Tom might like a bit of diving, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that he would take it this far.

When he was seven we signed him up for a Saturday-morning class. He loved it, the badges and certificates and all that. Two years later he was spotted by a scout and put on a 'world-class start' programme. By the time he was nine Tom was travelling up and down the country for competitions an training camps. He'd phone us up crying, missing home. From then on we decided to go with him. Looking after Tom went from being a part-time hobby to a full-time job. Whether I'm collecting him from school, taking him to training or travelling the world to watch him compete, I'm always with Tom." [Read More]

• Bott Ltd sponsors leading UK Olympic diving contender

"Leading workshop and in-vehicle storage manufacturer Bott Ltd (bott) has announced a four year sponsorship agreement with the U.K.'s brightest and youngest Olympic hope, 13 year old diver Tom Daley.

Bott, which manufactures a range of workshop and in-vehicle storage equipment will be supporting Tom up to and including the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Tom has been tipped as a potential Olympic medallist, and was last year voted BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year alongside household names such as Jenson Button, Wayne Rooney and Andy Murray.

Last month he scooped gold at the European Diving Championships, the most high profile contest in the sport before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tom commented: "This four year deal will help me to give my best at international competitions. I need to compete in these events to get to the highest level and fulfil my dream of winning Olympic gold for Britain. But raising the money is tough, so the timing of the agreement, coinciding with the European Championships, could not have been better." bott, which manufactures workbenches, cupboards, drawer cabinets and in-vehicle storage solutions in its Bude factory, supports a range of community and sporting groups across the U.K.

Clive Woodward, bott's CEO said: "When Tom's truly exceptional achievements came to our attention, we felt we had to support his talent and do what we could to help him compete. He is flying the flag for the U.K. around the world, and our sponsorship will help ensure he continues to do that and fulfil his potential."

Since taking up competitive diving at the age of eight, Tom has gone on to win numerous contests against adults twice his age and with years of experience. He was the youngest ever under 18 National Champion and, more recently, was crowned British Mens Platform Champion." [Source]

• Daley confidence sky high after PB

"Plymouth diving sensation Tom Daley will head to this summer's Olympic Games in the form of his short life after setting a new personal best in Leeds on Saturday.

Daley took part in a 'display' only competition at the Great Britain trials because he qualified for Beijing earlier in the year.

He had initially been set to dive in the synchro event at the John Charles Centre for Sport, but his partner, Blake Aldridge was unable to dive after an elbow wound picked up in a motorbike accident had become infected.

So Daley was left to dive on his own.

But he delighted the crowd with some sensational diving, scooping numerous nines and even a couple of 10s from the international judging panel, and broke the magical 500-point barrier for the first time.

The 14-year-old Eggbuckland Community College pupil finished with 512.05 points, which will have many of his competitors in Beijing worried." [Read More]

• New Team Visa UK Video

There's a new video with Tom on the Team Visa Europe YouTube Channel. You can see it here or watch it below. =)

• Daley overwhelmed by selection

"Daley has been virtually assured of his place in the Olympic team since becoming the youngster person to win a European Championships in Eindhoven earlier this year, but today received confirmation from the British Olympic Association.

The BOA have selected Daley in the individual 10metre platform and the synchronised equivalent alongside Blake Aldridge.

Daley said: "To know you're going to an Olympics after all the hard work and speculation is unbelievable. I'm totally overwhelmed."

Daley played down talk of a possible appearance on the rostrum, instead claiming the experience would go towards making him a champion on home soil in four years' time.

"It's something I've dreamed about but this was meant to happen in 2012 and not in 2008. I'm going to go the Olympics and enjoy every minute of it. It's going to be an amazing experience and one I was desperate to have before the London Games.

"I'm not looking at medals. My list of dives isn't difficult enough at this stage to give me the scores I need to win a medal. That will come as I get older and that's where I want to be when London comes along in 2012."

Also named in Team GB's diving squad are Ben Swain, Nick Robinson-Baker, Hayley Sage, Tandi Gerrard, Stacie Powell, Tonia Couch, Pete Waterfield and Rebecca Gallantree." [Source]

• Beijing 2008 - Great Britain name diving squad

"The announcement of the 14-person team brought the total number of British athletes selected so far to 100.

"I am delighted to have an exciting team of young divers, such as Tom Daley, combined with more experienced divers like Pete Waterfield and Tandi Gerrard," Simon Clegg, Team GB's 2008 Chef de Mission, said. "The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is a great opportunity for a majority of these divers to experience the Olympic environment for the first time.

"I wish them all the best in their preparations leading up to Beijing and of course also in competition at the Olympic Games."

Three-time Olympian Waterfield and Gerrard - who has been twice before - lead the squad, with 14-year-old Daley the inclusion that will raise eyebrows.

"To know that you're going to an Olympics after all the hard work and speculation is unbelievable," 10metre synchronised springboard diver Daley, pictured here, said." [Read More]

• Preparation going well, says diving prodigy Daley

"One of Great Britain's top Olympic hopefuls, 14-year-old diver Tom Daley, says his preparation for the Beijing Games is going well.

The teenager is the youngest representative in Team GB heading out to China for the Games in August.

Speaking at a fashion photoshoot before the competition, where himself and three other British medal hopefuls including gymnast Beth Tweddle were given the chance to try on clothes by several top designers, Daley said he is keen to get out to China soon in order to acclimatise to the new surroundings.

"I've been training so hard for the last four months in preparation for the Beijing Olympics," he revealed.

"I've got three lots of competitions coming up internationally in the World Series - one in Sheffield, one in Mexico and one in China - so it'll be good to get out to China to practice competing ahead of the Games there this summer."

Daley, who has attracted much media attention due to his tender years, admitted he feels somewhat overawed by the interest shown in him - particularly at events like this one.

"It feels extremely weird to have top designers like Vivienne Westwood designing you some clothes to wear and to think they're putting all this effort into us," he added.

The photoshoot was arranged by British Olympic sponsors Visa, with long-distance runner Mo Farah and paralympian equestrian Natasha Baker joining Tweddle and Daley in front of the cameras." [Source]

• Beijing Olympics all about testing the water as diver Tom Daley builds up to London 2012

"It is the most difficult dive in the world, a dizzying blur of twists and somersaults packed into the 1.8 seconds it takes to jump off a 10-metre platform and hit the water.

Acknowledged as the ultimate test of agility and physical strength, it carries the highest degree of difficulty and includes so many elements that it takes longer to say it than to perform it: back two-and-a-half somersaults with two-and-a-half twists in the pike position.

It is also the only dive that Britain's 14-year-old superstar Tom Daley does not have in his repertoire, which is why experts agree that it is virtually impossible for him to win gold at this summer's Beijing Olympics.

Among them is Daley's mentor, Athens silver medallist Leon Taylor - and he, above all people, should know. He was the man who invented the dive 10 years ago, since when it has become the Holy Grail of the 10m discipline.

"When we're talking about medal spots in the individual competition, they are really going to be determined by that dive," said Taylor." [Read More]

• Beijing Olympics: Tom Daley's growing stature

"Tom Daley got a taste yesterday of the world media attention that is likely to engulf him if Britain's 14-year-old Olympic diving prodigy is successful in Beijing this summer.

Daley scythes and twists 10 metres from a diving board to the eyes' delight, and the teenager demonstrated his maturity with some adept moves on land yesterday when, from his home training venue in Plymouth, he politely batted back questions to numerous journalists and broadcasters from as far afield as Japan and America.

Daley showed an ease in communication, and a patience with repetitive questions. That's not to say he is not enjoying some of the fame that comes with being Britain's youngest male Olympian in 48 years. He said: "I went into Starbucks the other day and got a free chocolate Frappuccino. It's really weird to think people respect you and recognise you for what you do."

Daley, his teeth braces showing a light-blue streak, has also learned to handle some of the inevitable jealousy that comes the way of a successful sporting prodigy, as he put it: "You get the odd person at school who takes the mick but you just let it go over your head. My best friends are quite protective but we have learned to ignore it when people say stuff."

His great revelation yesterday was that 'Cuddly Monkey', given to Daley by his parents as a toddler, is always poolside on top of his kit bag as a lucky totem, and he confessed to a passion for indulging in Haribo sweets between diving sessions in competition." [Read More]

• Diver, Tom Daley facing Olympic Games challenge

"Tom Daley stands at the back of the platform visualising his next dive, his lips moving almost imperceptibly as he rehearses the tucks and somersaults in his mind's eye.

Slowly he moves to the platform's edge, his chest moving rhythmically as his breathing intensifies, his brown eyes glazed with concentration. For a moment he is stationary, like a statue in the heavens. Then he rocks back, his face working, his youthful muscles flexing.

In less than two seconds he will hit the water at 35mph, his hands thrust forward to break the surface (what aficionados call a “rip landing”), creating a fluid tunnel to receive his head and body. And those watching will applaud spontaneously. They always do.

It is unnecessary to trot out a list of superlatives to convey Daley's precocity, for the facts speak eloquently enough. He won gold in both the individual and synchronised 10-metre platform at the 2008 British Championships. He took gold at the European Championships in Eindhoven in March - at the age of 13 years and ten months - with two of his final three dives eliciting perfect 10s from the judges. And in August he will arrive at the Olympic Games in Beijing as Britain's youngest competitor in any sport, with an outside chance of a podium finish. How does he do it? Even Rob, his father, is confounded by the brilliance of Britain's latest sporting prodigy, his West Country accent fumbling for words that might solve the mystery." [Read More]

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