Roy Apps - EDGE - Dream to Win: Tom Daley

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Oh, wow! five-year-old William exclaimed to his older brother, Tom.

The Central Park Pool in Plymouth was packed with giant inflatables of every shape and colour. The pool was putting on a special kids fun session.

While they were changing, William said: Im going to jump on the inflatables!

Im going down the water slide, said Tom, who was seven.

As they ran out of the changing rooms, Tom suddenly stopped. Next to the main pool, there was a smaller one.

People were jumping off springboards into the water. Tom looked up. At the top of the tower, right up under the ceiling, stood a figure. He was perfectly still and looked very, very small. He stepped to the edge of the platform and Tom held his breath as the man dived in.

Tom stood there, amazed, watching the divers jumping into the water. His mum came up to him.

Arent you going on the inflatables, Tom? she asked.

Tom shook his head.

What about the water slide, then?

Tom shook his head again.

So what do you want to do?

That, declared Tom, pointing to the next diver preparing to jump off the 10-metre platform, the highest of them all.

Every Saturday morning Toms mum and dad paid for him and his little brother William to have diving lessons. Each time Tom learned something new, he got a certificate which he hung in his room.

The following year, when Tom was eight, the 2002 Commonwealth Games were on TV. Tom watched all the diving events, amazed at the way the divers twisted and somersaulted through the air before splashing into the water. The British divers Leon Taylor and Pete Waterfield became Toms heroes, together with the Canadian diver Alexandre Despatie, who had won a Commonwealth gold medal when he was just thirteen.

Toms dad watched the Commonwealth Games with him. If you think this is big, he said, wait till they show the Olympic Games in a couple of years.

Tom looked puzzled. He had never heard of the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games, his dad explained, is the biggest sporting event in the world. The next Olympics is in a couple of years in Athens. Then in Beijing in 2008. After that, well, they reckon that London is going to bid for the 2012 games.

Tom went upstairs to his room. He drew a picture. It was of a boy in a pair of Union Jack Speedos doing a handstand. Then Tom drew the Olympic rings and wrote London 2012 on the paper. The picture was called My Ambition.

Eight-year-old Tom Daley had a dream: to dive at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Just before Toms ninth birthday, he was invited to join the Central Park Pools junior competitive diving squad. They were called The Weenies. Toms coach, Sam, was pleased with his progress.

You are lucky, Tom, she told him. Youre one of the few people who are able to feel where your arms and legs are when youre doing somersaults and twists. That means youve got a better chance of being able to do a really good dive.

Tom often stayed behind after lessons to do a bit more swimming and diving. One day, he was making his way back to the changing rooms after a couple of dives, when he suddenly felt dizzy. The other people at the side of the pool looked all blurry. Then he looked and saw a bright red puddle of blood in the pool. It was his blood! Hed hit his head on the side of the pool when he dived in.

Toms mum rushed him to hospital, where the doctors stitched up the wound. The accident had taught Tom a very basic lesson about the sport of diving: it can be very dangerous.

In 2003, Toms diving club in Plymouth hosted the National Novices event for young divers new to the sport. Tom picked up a silver medal. He was showing it off to his friends afterwards, when a woman approached him and said, My names Chelsea Warr. Could you spare me a moment, Tom? She asked Tom to do a couple of dives. Then she took out a tape measure.

Arms out! Chelsea instructed. Tom stretched out his arms and she measured them. Then she measured the length of his legs.

Thats great! Chelsea told him at last. Tom, Id like to offer you a place on World Class Start. Its a programme for young divers funded by the National Lottery. Weve got a weekend training camp coming up in September. Wed like you to join us.

Yes! thought Tom. A whole weekend away without my mum and dad and my little brothers!

Once he was away on the weekend though, he didnt feel quite the same. He enjoyed the diving and the training, but at bedtime he got really homesick.

His mum and dad came and picked him up. They bought him a toy monkey to cheer him up. The monkey became Toms lucky mascot and travelled with him all over the world.

Soon, Tom was doing three training sessions a week in the practice harness at the Central Park Pool with his coach, Sam. Tom was just ten when he was selected to go to his first international competition in Aachen, Germany. There, he won silver and bronze medals.

Tom continued entering competitions and going to the World Class Start training camps. Despite still getting homesick, his diving continued to improve. Between November 2003 and May 2005, Tom was unbeaten in his age group. He had also been identified by the Talented Athlete Sponsorship Scheme as a young athlete who could win a medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.

It seemed that nothing could stop Tom now.

Toms mum and dad were there supporting him throughout all his events and competitions. In April 2006, just before Toms 12th birthday, they headed to Aachen in Germany, where, two years earlier, Tom had won his first international medals. Everyone expected Tom to do even better this time.

Tom was diving from the 10 metre platform, the highest of the lot. His first dive was good. His second dive was even better. But as he climbed up the steps for his third dive, he suddenly froze. He couldnt put one foot in front of the other. His head was full of doubts. He was terrified hed land flat on the water again, as he had a couple of weeks earlier. An image flashed through his mind of hitting his head on the side of the pool when he was younger. He started shaking with fear.