Diving guide - London 2012 Olympic Games

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Your guide to diving ahead of the London 2012 Olympics, including our interview with Tom Daley

Converted: Jaw-dropping acrobatics made to look easy.

Confused: Annoying children showing off in a swimming pool.

Diving - The essential guide

Street cred: Diving is definitely down with the kids. The average age of gold medallists in Beijing was 18 and most divers are spent by their mid-twenties; it's kind of the sporting equivalent of S Club 7.

Who’s good? China – it won seven out of eight events in 2008.

Glory-hunting potential: Tom Daley, who will be 18 when the Games begin, is one of the poster boys of 2012 and a gold medal favourite in the individual 10m platform. Look out, too, for women’s synchro pair Monique Gladding and Megan Sylvester.

The basics: Divers compete individually, or in pairs for the synchronised events, at two heights: 3m and 10m.

Athlete to watch: Anyone Chinese, particularly Beijing 2008 double gold-medal winner Chen Roulin.

Not to be confused with: The thing your aunt did on holiday in Sharm el Sheikh.

As seen in: Luc Besson’s ‘The Big Blue’ (1988), which is about leaping into the sea rather than the pool.

Almost useless fact: The highest dive ever was 52.4m (172ft), set by Dana Kunze.

Do say: ‘Now that's what I call a double-back somersault pike, bravo!’

Don't say: ‘Where’s his snorkel?’

British Olympic hopeful - Tom Daley

What would your advice be to someone taking up your career?

Just keep working hard because the one thing you can control is yourself. Attention to detail is key.

If the monarchy suddenly disbanded, which song would you want played at your gold-medal ceremony instead of the national anthem?

I think they should parade the people out and say their names to the ‘Barbra Streisand’ song by Duck Sauce. Or something that you could dance to on the podium, just to let out all your excitement.

What's your favourite London spot?

I like having all the tourist attractions in view. So maybe I’d sit outside a cafe somewhere with the London Eye and Big Ben and all that in the background.

Who’s your Olympics crush?

Let me think... I can only think of divers. This is tough... Jess Ennis.

What goes through your head while competing? Do you have any superstitions or mental tricks?

On the way to each dive, I have my drink at the bottom of the stairs, then at 5m I do a visualisation of the dive, then at 7m I do a physical run through and practise all the movements. At 10m I just focus on the process of the dive.

What physical aspect of yourself are you most proud of?

This is going to sound really stupid but I would say my stomach because I work quite hard on it and it’s something I've kept in shape since I was quite young. But I don't like my nose and ears.

What is the most common misconception about your sport?

Lots of people think that I'm a swimmer, which is a bit annoying. When I was younger people thought that when I said diving I meant scuba diving.

Tom Daley is supporting Nestle’s Get Set, Go Free campaign, which gives families the opportunity to try activities for free this summer.