My Story

by Daley, Tom

  At the beginning of July, I did a Get Set Go Free Media Day for my sponsor Nestlé. My family and I went kite buggying for the day and were filmed and photographed. It was really good fun. The following week, I went to Silverstone to watch the British Grand Prix. It was a fantastic day and I got to meet Michael Schumacher.

  Then I was busy preparing and training to head to Rome on 25 July. This was for a pre-camp before the European Championships, where I was hoping to defend the title. I was completely injury-free and everything was going well. On 8 August, we left Rome to go to the Budapest event. I was going to be away for seven weeks.

  Two days before the event I was practising and as I brought my hands together, I missed and my arms were bent back behind my head really quickly. My tricep was in agony. I didn’t know it had torn but it was so painful and each time they touched it in massage, I was in unbearable pain, so we rested it and iced it. I taped it up as much as I possibly could but I could barely lift it above my head. I was so annoyed but every time I moved, it was so sore.

  At the hospital I had an ultrasound scan. I just wanted to find out what was wrong. The lady said she could not see anything and told me it was fine to dive. I didn’t understand her diagnosis though – it still really hurt.

  Arriving at the outdoor pool in Budapest, it was still so painful. Dad had delayed a course of chemotherapy to come and watch and Granddad Dink was there with him.

  MY FIRST COMPETITION WAS THE SYNCHRO BUT AFTER THE PRELIMS WE MADE THE DECISION I NEEDED TO PULL OUT BECAUSE IT HURT SO MUCH AND I RISKED INJURING MYSELF FURTHER. I FELT SO DEFLATED AND FRUSTRATED THAT I WASN’T ABLE TO DEFEND MY EUROPEAN TITLE. I FELT LIKE THE SEASON WAS GOING AWFULLY. SASCHA KLEIN PICKED UP THE TITLE WITH 534.85 POINTS.

  In the end, I just competed in the 3m springboard. This is not a discipline I train on very often and I made some errors on a couple of my dives, meaning I finished in ninth place. I had hoped to get a medal so it was a disheartening result and felt like it was a pretty rubbish end to the competition.

  From there, we travelled straight to Singapore for the Youth Olympics and my arm had not got any better. Eventually, I had an MRI and it showed up a grade two tear on the part of the tricep that connects the ligament to the muscle. It was relief to know what was wrong but I had to pull out of the platform event again and the doctors told me just to see how it was from day to day.

  By the time we arrived in Singapore, I had calmed down and knew how important it was to properly rehab my arm. I had such amazing help from the physios, Lucy and Amanda, who were brilliant and always there for me. They devised lots of different programmes to get me back to full fitness. I was so frustrated but tried to tell myself that it was better that I had loads of injuries then rather than in 2011 or 2012. I still stuck with the team and we managed to do some fun stuff. One day we had a go on the surf simulator on the beach, which was harder than it looked. We also did some filming for Blue Peter at an infinity pool at the top of a hotel, where there was an incredible view.

  Gradually my arm got stronger. The physios were amazing and one of them got up at 4 a.m. on the morning that we travelled to Tucson in Arizona for the Junior World Championships just so she could give me a treatment before we left.

  I was the Senior World Champion and was hoping to do the double, but my injury prevented me from competing in my event yet again. I competed in the 3m and this time finished in sixth place. It is always gutting not to win a medal but if it had been a senior competition, because of the way the tariffs are worked out, I would have finished third. We still had a good time and outside the competition some of the GB team learnt a ‘Waka Waka’ dance and competed against the Americans in a ‘dance-off’, which was really funny.

  I had to sit my GCSE exams during the build-up to all the summer competitions and on the day of my results I received the standard brown envelope. I was almost as nervous as in the big competitions – I really could not bear to rip it open and look. I had not done particularly well in my mocks so when I finally opened it and saw I had got four A*s and two As, I was over the moon. I pretended to Dad that I was really upset, and then delivered the good news. While my friends went out to party, I celebrated by going to training!

  I decided I wanted to do Spanish, Maths and Photography for my A Levels. I always want to have something to fall back on and plan to go to university, while continuing my diving training.

  We headed to Leeds for a training camp at the end of September before leaving for the Commonwealth Games in India on 5 October. All being well I would definitely be competing in the 10m platform individual event but it was still to be decided who was doing the synchro event. At that time, there were three divers – myself, Max Brick and Peter Waterfield – and it was down to Alexei Evangulov, Performance Director of British Diving, to decide which pairing would compete. Alexei had joined the previous year just after Steve Foley left to do a similar job in America.

  While we were in Leeds, we worked hard but we also took time out to go to Alton Towers and to the cinema. Every day we went to the local shop to get some pic ’n’ mix and a Fab lolly – it was our treat! There were worries about security in India but I wasn’t concerned. It was reported that the organizers were ‘on alert’ following news that a Pakistan-based terror group was planning an attack on the games leading up to the closing ceremonies. Pete decided to stay at home because he has two children and everyone respected his decision, so Max and I were going to do the synchro together.

  In my experience, every single international competition I go to is always so secure, especially inside the athletes’ village, which is always protected with wire fences and metal gates at the entrance. I felt I needed to trust the team managers. I was also keen to go around Delhi with my camera, because I was working on a photography project entitled ‘Urban’. When we arrived I was impressed: everything was clean, the security was tight and the food, very importantly, was great.

  It was the first time I was going away without either of my parents coming along to cheer me on: Dad was in the middle of a course of chemo and Mum had just had a routine operation. I really missed Dad being there to joke and mess around with me, but I felt like it was a chance to prove to myself that I could perform without them there and I knew they would be glued to their televisions and phones.

  My first competition was the synchro. We had only trained about nine times during the year because of my injuries, so we felt quite unpractised. We were still training as a trio with Pete and were both nervous. Warming up alongside Australians Matthew Mitcham and Ethan Warren, we knew they were definitely the team to beat. My tricep was still hurting but the adrenalin was flowing, so I didn’t feel any pain. The nerves worked in our favour and it was the first time we had landed on our heads every time and we led from the second dive right through to the last. We were shaking before our last dive – the twister – because it was the dive that won Matt the Olympics, but we nailed it and I scored a personal best of 439.65, beating the Australians by more than 15 points. We were over the moon – and it was fantastic sharing the experience of being on the podium together when the National Anthem was being played.

  Less than a minute later, I was on the phone home. I was convinced there was nothing that Dad could do to embarrass me – after all, he was at home on the sofa, right. Wrong – I did a radio interview and there he was singing, ‘Olé, olé, olé, olé!’ He later told me that he was going to sing ‘Give Me Oil in My Lamp’ because he used to say that me and my brothers are the oil in his lamp, but he forgot what he was supposed to be singing.

  We went back to the hotel delighted and I treated myself to a bit of ice cream. I had to get my head down and get some rest but I was exhausted and dropped off immediately.

  That night my documentary ‘The Diver and His Dad’ aired on BBC1. I hadn’t seen it – Dad had been down to London to give it his seal of approval. It was then that his illness came back out in the media. People realized his tumour had got worse again. I didn’t mind people kn
owing but I didn’t want anyone bothering him. When I watched it I was pleased with it because it was completely genuine. The moment when he had put a ladder outside the house and popped his head up past my window as I was checking out my new room was just how it happened. I was starting to disturb Ben in the evenings so we decided I needed my own space. In my room I have a huge king Vi-Spring bed with a patriotic Union Jack bed cover, a desk, a big TV on the wall and loads of pictures of holidays and diving events decorating the wall. Dad used to tease me, telling me he and Mum watched my TV when I was away because it is so much bigger than the one in the front room.

  IN THE DOCUMENTARY, WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT MAYBE NOT SEEING HIS GRANDCHILDREN OR 2012, I JUST THOUGHT HE WOULD. I DIDN’T QUESTION IT. I THOUGHT HE WAS INVINCIBLE.

  Going into the individual competition at the Commonwealth Games, I felt more relaxed with a gold medal already under my belt. There were eleven of us taking part but I knew again that Matt would be my competition that day – he was coming in on top form, while I still didn’t feel like I was firing on all cylinders. It was obvious when we were training in the run-up it would be a battle of nerves. It felt like more of a psychological battle.

  After coming second in the semis, I was diving first, which is a good position to be in, because I could put pressure on him, a tactic that I was getting used to using to my advantage, as I had done in Rome.

  ‘GOING INTO THE INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION AT THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES, I FELT MORE RELAXED WITH A GOLD MEDAL ALREADY UNDER MY BELT.’

  ALEXEI TOLD ME I SHOULD BE HAPPY WITH A MEDAL BUT I TOLD HIM I WAS AFTER THE GOLD. I NEEDED IT TO PROVE TO MYSELF I STILL HAD IT; I COULD STILL WIN A COMPETITION AFTER THE YEAR OF SETBACKS AND INJURIES. I KNEW I HAD IT IN ME.

  After my first two dives, my back two and a half somersaults, two and a half twists, and forward three and a half, Matt was in the lead, but on my third dive – an inward three and a half somersaults with tuck, which I normally struggle with – I earned straight perfect 10s, only the second time I have managed it during my career. I punched the air with both hands as a huge cheer filled the stadium. Matt, who was preparing to dive after me, applauded as my scores flashed across the screen. And after his next dive, he maintained his lead with no less than 9.5s. In the fourth round, I re-took the lead with my armstand back triple somersault – and narrowly extended it again in my fifth dive, the back three and a half somersaults with tuck, to 1.75 points.

  But it was all down to the final dive. I peered over the edge, breathing slowly and tipped off the board to take reverse three and a half somersaults. It was a ripped entry with barely a splash – it was good.

  Matt then took the crucial dive, his hardest dive – back two and a half somersaults with two and a half twists, with a higher tariff than mine. He needed an average score of 8.9 to win. I stood by, watching and waiting.

  He looked up for inspiration, prepared himself, then leapt. The splash told its own story and everyone had started cheering before his scores – ranging from 5.5 to 7 – came up. I was hugging my coaches.

  On the podium, Matt jokingly grabbed my medal and put it up against himself, which was amusing. Loads of things were going through my head as I stood there. I replayed the dives in my head and then thought back to the hard times and all the hard work I’d put in to be there, with the Union Jack above my head and the National Anthem playing. It felt like a huge journey with so much work and so many sacrifices along the way but I was on the top block, where I wanted to be.

  After an awful year riddled with injury it was an incredible result – it felt like everything came right again. I was delighted. I called Dad immediately and he was equally thrilled for me.

  My first day back in England was pretty hectic with a full day of media interviews, including Sky News, BBC Breakfast and Daybreak. After a long day I headed home to Plymouth to see my family and show them my medals. They were so proud of my achievement.

  The Cancer Battle

  Dad and Granddad Dink with me at the Samantha Dixon Brain Tumour Trust Ball.

  A few days later my family and I went to Disneyland in Paris for three days. We were not able go anywhere outside the EU because of Dad’s illness – his chemotherapy meant he could get a blood clot if he flew so we knew that nowhere would be really hot because of the time of year. He had promised us a holiday, though, and my brothers, Mum and I love rollercoasters, so the obvious choice was Disneyland. I always feel I have to act so grown up when I am diving and doing interviews, so it was really good to be able to let my hair down and act like a big kid. We made sure we had a family picture with Mickey Mouse, who also did some diving impressions, and we generally larked around. At the airport we were messing around and put Dad into a wheelchair, and I joked that we were like Andy and Lou from Little Britain. I locked him in the disabled loo for a while, too!

  Then on 10 November I did A Question of Sport on Tour when it came to Plymouth at The Pavilions. I was on the panel with Matt Dawson and Andrew Castle. There was this really embarrassing moment when Matt asked about a mark on my face and I said, ‘It’s a carpet burn!’ – and then Matt buzzed his buzzer before doing an impression of someone rubbing their head against the carpet! Everyone fell about laughing but it was actually from coming down the stairs in a sleeping bag racing the synchronized swimmers. I fell out and got a horrible burn on my arm and head. I actually said it was with my brothers. I cannot imagine what he would have thought if I fessed up that it was me and a bunch of synchro girls!

  I am a patron of the Samantha Dixon Brain Tumour Trust and attended their fundraising ball to help raise as much money as we could in November. Mum and Dad and my grandparents were there and everyone got really dressed up in black tie. Samantha was diagnosed with brain cancer when she fourteen and died a few days before her seventeenth birthday in 1996. Her parents, Neil and Angela Dickson, have been campaigning ever since to raise awareness and feel that research into brain cancer is underfunded, despite it being the biggest killer of people under forty, and it has grown to become the UK’s biggest brain tumour charity. They asked me to become a patron and I was more than happy after my experience of Dad’s illness, as it is very close to my heart. I am really proud to be part of the great work they are doing, because there needs to be more research into this horrible disease.

  In December there was a raft of award shows. First up was the BBC Teen Awards, where I won the Sporting Hero Award and I met stars such as Ellie Goulding, Pixie Lott and the guys from The Inbetweeners. The girls were screaming so loud, I thought I needed ear plugs! I tried to meet Katy Perry but she was hiding in her dressing room, though bizarrely in the Green Room I spent ages chatting to Russell Brand’s cousin, before I realized he was related to Russ. We stayed at the Dorchester, which was really posh and old. To be honest, I’m just as happy in a Premier Inn!

  Another one of my coursework photos – I love experimenting with underwater shots.

  I also got screamed at the T4 Stars of 2010 – it was crazy. When they showed a picture of me in my trunks, I thought that it might blow my eardrums. It’s weird because I do not think of myself as some sort of pin-up. I look the way I do because of my sport. It feels good to be moving into the showbiz side of things, as well as sport. It’s just something different – and always interesting, although I don’t think it’s quite as glamorous as lots of people think.

  I am a massive fan of The X Factor and I was very excited to go to one of the live shows a week later. I met all the finalists, although I was gutted not to meet Cheryl Cole as I am a big fan of hers. But I did meet Simon, who was coming down the corridoor backstage and then stopped and said, ‘Hi, Tom. You’re the diver, aren’t you?’ and shook my hand. I was so surprised he knew who I was!

  THEN WE SAW LOUIS AND HE WAS TELLING ME I SHOULD JOIN A BOYBAND LIKE ONE DIRECTION. ‘CAN YOU SING?’

  ‘ER, NO.’

  ‘DANCE?’

  ‘ER, NOT REALLY.’

  ‘WELL YOU CAN JUST BE AT THE BACK AND LOOK GOOD!’<
br />
  MAYBE I’LL THINK ABOUT IT IF THE DIVING GOES WRONG …

  The biggest diva there was Wagner. He seemed a bit weird – he strutted around arrogantly and Cher was totally caked in make-up, while Katy was skipping around. Sitting in the audience was completely different to watching it on the TV.

  December was another busy month with the build-up to Christmas. At the start of the month I did some filming for A Question of Sport as the mystery guest where I went round Plymouth Christmas Market.

  I was meant to be in a competition on 3 December but this was cancelled due to the snow. It meant I could go to my college awards, where I won for photography and sport.

  It was a week of awards as on the 6th I won the Plymouth Herald Young Sports Personality of the Year, on the 15th the local BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year, and on the 19th the overall BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year for the third time. It was a real shock as I had won it twice in a row so I didn’t think they would give it to me for a third time. It was an amazing evening and I got to see an idol of mine, David Beckham, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award and he and Victoria were sat a few rows in front of us. He gave me a wink as I was going up on stage, which was cool, but unfortunately I didn’t get to meet him because he and Victoria came in really late and snuck out first. Everyone clapped him so much that my hands were a bit sore afterwards! Dad kept saying, ‘What do you mean, did we meet the Beckhams? Surely you mean to say, did the Beckhams meet us?’

  I was really scared getting up in front of so many people – I always start really nervous, then get into it and it’s fine.