Tom Daley has a secret coach on his side on the journey to his fifth Olympic Games in Paris: his five year old son.
Daley was named as part of Team GB's diving squad for Paris 2024, where he will become the first British diver to compete at five Olympics.
It almost never happened with Daley quietly stepping away from the diving boards following gold in Tokyo, before he dived back in and returned to training in July 2023, teaming up with Noah Williams to qualify Team GB a quota spot for the Games with World Championship silver in 2024.
This cycle has been markedly different to the ones previous, with Daley not only coming in late following his change of heart but balancing the rigours of training for the Olympics with spending time with his young family.
The diver married husband Lance Black in 2017 and the couple have two children together, Robbie, aged five, and Phoenix, aged one.
And the 29-year-old has revealed that his eldest son has actually become one of his keenest advisors, with Robbie stepping up to let his dad know just how it's done in time for the Team GB athlete to return to the Olympic scene this summer.
"It’s funny, every time I go away, [Robbie] gives me a prediction on what place I’m going to finish and how I’m going to do and he gives me tips on how to beat the Chinese divers," he said. "It’s very sweet!
"On Saturday morning, he does come to training, and he has jumped off the 3m.
"It’s funny because every time I try to teach him or try to give him some pointers, he’s like, ‘Papa, I know how to do this, I know how to dive, you need to do this’.
"He tries to tell me how to dive, which is quite funny - but he’s only five, so he thinks he knows best!
"He loves it, and he’s super excited, because he’ll be coming to Paris in the summer."
In fact, the full Daley clan are set to make the trip to Paris in summer, with 29-year-old thrilled to be able to share the moment with his family, after Tokyo denied any crowds and his children too young to remember.
"It's really tough being away from the kids because I want to be with them all the time, but it’s also really fun for them to be able to see me dive," said Daley, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme.
"Robbie will probably really remember this period, because going into Tokyo, he might not have remembered how much I was training. I think that’s something that’s pretty cool."
Daley's decision to return to the pool to reach an historic fifth Games has long roots.
When he competes in Paris, he will fulfil the dreams of a 10-year-old from Plymouth, who would never have guessed what he would go on to achieve.
"I remember when I was 10 years old, I said at a SportsAid event that ‘I am going to win an Olympic gold medal and go to five Olympic Games'," he said. "I never thought I would!"
"I think there was a reason why I didn’t announce retirement after Tokyo.
"I kept on being asked, ‘Are you retiring?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I think so’ or 'I think I’m done’ - but I never said, ‘Yes I am done’.
"I wasn’t even really sure if I’d actually be able to come back, it’s not even been a year yet since I’ve been back to training - so I think that’s an achievement in itself, that we were able to have qualified the spot in Qatar at worlds earlier in the year."
Daley made his Olympic bow aged just 14 back at Beijing 2008 and was immediately catapulted into the limelight.
Cut to 16 years later and he now boasts a staggering four Olympic medals, one gold and three bronze, to his name.
Gearing up for his fifth Games in Paris this summer, Daley admitted that he is now solely focused on the synchro event but revealed that the temptation of a team event at LA 2028 is already on his mind.
"I genuinely thought I was going to retire after Tokyo and then didn’t," he added.
"I might have the same thoughts going into Paris, but then I hear they may be bringing the team event into the Olympics for LA.
"I don’t know. Never say never is the thing, I’ve really enjoyed it and actually my body, touch wood, has held out pretty well coming back and just doing synchro."
Daley will now look to defend his 10m synchro crown alongside synchro partner Williams in Paris, with fellow Tokyo 2020 champion Matty Lee sadly out of competition due to injury.
The new partnership immediately clicked according to Daley and ahead of the Games, the diver revealed that the two will be closing the distance as they look to clinch gold in the French capital
"Noah is great, and the fact that we are a really new pair and we’re not able to train together all the time because I’m in LA and he’s in London, it’s gone really well considering," he said.
"He’s actually coming out to LA at the end of the month after the AquaticsGB Diving Champs.
"He’s coming over for 10 days, two weeks, then I go to London for the start of July into the Olympics, so we’ll be training together then up to the Games."
Sportsbeat 2024