Tom Daley: I swear underwater a lot
The 2012 hopeful on dealing with the pain of a bad dive
Tom Daley has told the Radio Times how he resorts to swearing underwater when a dive does not go to plan.
Britain’s 17-year-old diving champion admits that the technique is the only way to deal with the pain caused when he hits the water incorrectly.
“[It] really hurts. Yeah, it really does. You get bruises instantly. You can split your skin. There’s so many things that can go wrong.
“You swear underwater a lot. You see the bubbles coming out. You have to let all the anger out underwater – oh my God, that really hurt! – and come up and try to keep a composed face.”
Daley, who has a scar on the top of his head and a torn tricep from previous diving injuries, admits that the impact on his body is “like having a car crash every time you dive.”
“You have to be as brave as possible, I guess, because if you start to get scared when you’re 10m high you don’t want to be a diver,” he says, before adding, “I still get scared every time I go up there.”
Read the full interview with Tom, along with double gold medallist Rebecca Adlington, in Radio Times, out today
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