TERRIFIC TOM Special supplement marking Plymouth’s celebration for world diving champion Thomas Daley FRIDAY, JULY 31 2009
PAGE 2
The Herald, Friday July 31 2009
The Herald, Friday July 31 2009
PAGE 3
HEAD OVER HEELS: Tom Daley dives in Rome to take the World Championship gold medal
What will YOUR future hold? THERE ARE NO AGE BARRIERS TO SUCCESS
s
dsds
YOU GOTTA WANT IT, TO GET IT
A4E CAN OFFER SUPPORT IN GETTING BACK INTO WORK WITH A WHOLE RANGE OF EMPLOYMENT SKILLS TRAINING, EDUCATION, COUNSELLING, ADVICE AND SUPPORT GUIDANCE OPPORTUNITIES
A4e Pathways to Work, Plymouth Works Plus, Employability Skills Doing well by doing good is A4e’s motto. Give us a call today: Plymouth Pathways Tel 01752 452069 Plymouth Works Plus Tel 01752 312737 Or visit our A4e Offices in St Andrews Street, St Andrews Court, Plymouth, PL1 2AH www.a4e.co.uk
The best is yet to come for our Tom T
ODAY we celebrate the phenomenon by BILL RICHARDS that is diving superstar Tom Daley – Chief Sports Writer Plymouth’s very own world champion Thomas Daley became the youngest under-18 diving who is also the envy of the nation.
Daley is one of those rare athletes with the ability to astonish, thrill and charm in equal measure. Watching Daley win the gold medal – on his debut at the tournament – against the best divers on the planet in the men’s 10m platform at the World Championships in Rome is certain to be one of the sporting highlights of the year. His record-breaking achievement in becoming Great Britain’s first individual diving world champion confirmed his status as a very, special talent. He has the ability to deliver the perfect performance when it is needed most, as his rivals found out to their cost at the lovely Foro Italico venue. While the world held its breath, his competitors tried to out-perform him but couldn’t do it and it was our Tom who triumphed in Rome. The image of Daley’s face as the growing realisation of what he had achieved in the searing Italian heat will live long in the memory. His smile of delight would have illuminated Blackpool. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner and he’s from Plymouth; he was discovered here, has been coached here and has conquered the world. And Daley is still only 15 years old – that’s the scary part – yet seems to have been around forever. Every big city – including London – wishes they had a Tom Daley, who seems to have become a focal point for the 2012 Games. Small wonder, really, as his astonishing achievement of becoming the youngest male Olympian since the 1960s at Beijing last year is just the precursor to greater things in three years’ time. However, before that a quick check on the Daley CV shows that he has a whole list of firsts in his locker. In 2004, aged just 10, Plymouth Diving Club’s
champion.
His first senior international debut and final came in 2007 when he became the Herald’s Sports Personality of the Year and also the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year. In 2008, Daley began to flex his muscles, winning a bronze in the men’s platform synchros at the World Cup, before becoming the youngest European men’s platform champion.
AP Photos/Alessandra Tarantino
Congratulations Tom
- a truly outstanding achievement becoming World Diving Champion Very well done from everyone at Plymouth College
That’s in addition to finishing seventh in an Olympic Games final in China. This year, well before rocking Rome, he won a silver medal in the World Series and a gold medal at the Fort Lauderdale FINA Grand Prix. Daley also deals with the bad times – thankfully, very few – just as affably as he conducts himself with dignity in victory. On the downside over the past 12 months was a public and acrimonious – not from Tom’s side – parting of the ways with GB and Olympic synchro partner Blake Aldridge. This was followed by bullying at school in Plymouth, which forced his parents to move him to another school. What better way to answer the bullies than to win a world championship? He has achieved so much in such a short time and yet all the same, you can’t help feeling that Tom’s story isn’t half-written yet. It’s very much a case of work in progress; the best, we hope, is yet to come for the Plymothian.
www.plymouthcollege.com Registered Charity Number 1105544 Registered Company Number 518942
PAGE 4
PAGE 5
The Herald, Friday July 31 2009
From tiny Tom to world champ T
HE people of Plymouth are expected to pack the city centre today to officially welcome back home diving world champion Tom Daley.
Fresh from his victory in the 10m individual platform event in Rome, Tom will travel down Royal Parade on an open-top bus before rapturous crowds from just after midday. Hundreds of people are expected to turn out to greet the15-year-old sports star. It’s a fitting celebration for a young man who loves Plymouth almost as much as Plymouth loves him. He has lived, learnt and trained in the city all his life, as this series of archive pictures clearly show. Plymouth through and through, the teen hero is a fantastic ambassador for the city – and an inspiration for sporting youngsters with talent. Unlike other sporting success stories, Tom has reached the top of the world without the benefits of a privileged background. He lives in Crownhill with his proud family – father Rob, mother Debbie and his two younger brothers, William and Ben. Last month, he enrolled at Plymouth College. Previously he had studied at Eggbuckland Community College, but left after his father Rob revealed Tom had been bullied there. In December last year, he came away with back-to-back awards, winning The Herald’s Young Sports Personality award just a year after becoming the youngest winner of the main Sports Personality title: all this from a youngster who took up his sport in 2001 at the age of seven, when he joined Plymouth Diving Club. Tom will meet Lord Mayor Ken Foster at a civic reception and buffet meal; then the specially decorated bus will set off from the Council House at 12.15pm, travelling down Armada Way to the Big Screen, with his family on board. From there, Tom will talk the crowd through the highlights of his triumph in Italy. He will be presented with a homecoming gift from the Lord Mayor and will then be interviewed by Herald columnist and BBC Radio Devon presenter David FitzGerald, live for the lunchtime show. Highlights of Tom’s dives in the championships will also be screened. Tom said: “After the Olympics it was crazy doing the parade – it was great to see the people of Plymouth showing their support. It’s been great to get all the support from people back home.” Council leader Vivien Pengelly said she hoped hundreds would turn out to support Britain’s first individual diving world champion. She said: “To become world champion at 15 is an incredible achievement. We wanted to do something to recognise that.”
RISING STAR: Tom in his Olympic kit ready for the Beijing Olympics (above) and more training at Central Park pool (below)
HOME AND AWAY: Tom on Plymouth Hoe and, inset, competing at the Olympics in Beijing last year
OUT OF THE ORDINARY: Tom relaxing at home (left); with his parents Rob and Debbie (above) and snapshots of the boy growing up (below)
ALWAYS LEARNING: Tom at Central Park pool (top): looking disappointed during the Beijing Olympics (middle) and with his Plymouth and GB diving coach Andy Banks. Right: Time out for Tom to enjoy the parade with other members of the Great Britain team at the start of last summer’s Olympics
PAGE 6
The Herald, Friday July 31 2009
The Herald, Friday July 31 2009
PAGE 7
Who’s that with Thomas Daley? TOM Daley has rubbed shoulders with many celebrities during his rise to the top – and can now firmly count himself among their ranks.
Tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Jamie Murray and musicians Take That, the Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna, Leona Lewis and Duffy are among those who can count themselves as acquaintances of the 15-year-old diving superstar star. Tom has also met TV presenters Anne Robinson and Justin Lee Collins and sports stars Lewis Hamilton, Daley Thompson and Rebecca Adlington. The Prime Minister Gordon Brown has succumbed to Tom’s charms, having met him before and turning up at the Beijing Olympics last year to watch him dive. He sent Tom a letter of congratulations earlier this week. Last year, Tom attended the glittering Bafta Awards, appearing on stage alongside Olympian heptathlete Denise Lewis OBE and mingling with A-list glitterati. His father Rob has taken photos of Tom with Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Henry Cooper and former Dallas actor Patrick Duffy – but he also had to explain to his son who they were! Fellow-Olympian swimmer Sharron Davies MBE, also from Plymouth, and double gold Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes have also met him several times. Today at Tom’s homecoming one of his heroes, Blue Peter presenter Joel Defries, will welcome him back and offer congratulations. Tom has said he wants to be a Blue Peter presenter one day, so the city council has invited Joel and the crew of the CBBC kids’ show along to the event where they will be filming scenes for the show’s new series, which starts in September. Leader of Plymouth City Council Vivien Pengelly said: “We know how much Tom likes Blue Peter and that it’s his dream to be a Blue Peter presenter himself one day, so we thought, ‘What better treat than to see if we could get one of the presenters to welcome him home?’ “We’re very grateful to Joel for travelling all the way to Plymouth and we’re hoping that he’ll give Tom some top tips, so that one day he can fulfil his dream. “We’re so proud of Tom that we wanted to do something extra-special for him and make his return to the city really memorable. We’ve got every faith that he can achieve whatever he puts his mind to and so I fully expect to see him on Blue Peter one day!”
Tom with Denise Lewis at the BAFTAs
FAMOUS FACES: (above) Tom meets Bruce Forsyth, Terry Venables and Sir Henry Cooper. Left: Piers Morgan and, right, Sharron Davies at The Herald’s Sports Personality of the Year Awards. Below left: Tom with actor Patrick Duffy and, below right, with TV presenter Davina McCall. Bottom left: With actress Dame Judi Dench and, bottom right, with Mayor of London Boris Johnson at the Britain’s Best 2008 awards at the London Television Studios
Tom sits beside Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a meeting of sports ministers and officials to discuss the 2012 Olympics
Double gold Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes popped into Central Park pool as a special surprise for Tom
Tom Daley image courtesy of The Herald