Olympic poster boy Tom Daley denies that his TV work over the past two years has been a distraction to his diving.
In fact, the London 2012 bronze medallist insists that shows like Splash! and Tom Daley Goes Global have helped, not hindered, and he aims to prove that by reproducing his Commonwealth Games form of four years ago.
“It’s been a massive help to be involved in those programmes,” he says. “If I hadn’t had something other than diving to focus on, I’d be sitting at home doing nothing and that fries your brain.
“All through my early years in the sport, I also had schoolwork to juggle and that was great because one thing took my mind off the other.
“I used to use diving disciplines like goal-setting and time management at school, and I definitely thrived on having something to focus on outside the diving environment.
“But training always comes first, and I have to dive well if I’m going to be Commonwealth Champion.”
Daley won individual and synchro gold in Dehli, and he will be the star attraction of the Glasgow 2014 event, which actually takes place at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh.
“I was really happy with my two golds in Dehli,” he says. “I’ll be going for the individual again, but I’ve not yet made a decision on the synchro.
“I dived in Edinburgh last year in the World Series, and it was amazing. I can’t wait.
“I think Glasgow will be an great host for the Games, and know they will put on a great show. I want to go into the competition and try to retain my title.
“I’ve loved the Commonwealth Games ever since my dad recorded the diving in Manchester back in 2002. I’d spend hours watching the tapes over and over.
“I was eight then, and I did my first-ever senior international when I was 12. I’m 20 now, and I feel like an old man in the sport.
“You can never get complacent. I have to focus only on myself and treat every dive as if it was my last.
“My degrees of difficulty have massively increased in all my dives over the last few years, and I’m feeling really good at the moment.
“For instance, I’ve been working hard on my twister, which has always been a scary dive for me.
“I’ve been working with my psychologist, Kate Hays, on different techniques.
“The only way to overcome fear is to confront it and keep doing the dive, and I’m a lot more comfortable with it than I was.”
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