Olympic diver Tom Daley moves school to escape bullying: Guardian

[Maurice]

When Tom Daley competed in the USA Diving Grand Prix, Fort Lauderdale, he was experiencing uncertainty about school.



He had been withdrawn from Eggbuckland Community College by his father.

A decision to transfer to an independent school (at half-term) would depend on Tom's views.



While many 14 or 15-year-olds might be unsettled in such circumstances, Tom is an inspiration to his age-group.



The results of the competition confirm that he remained focused despite the upheaval.



Swimming Times (July edition):

Tom Daley took his performance level to a new high in Florida to win his first international gold medal of 2009 - and improve his personal best score for the fifth time this year.



The 15-year-old's final score of 554.90 in the 10m platform at the USA Grand Prix included 10s from all seven judges for his penultimate dive.



Two days earlier, Daley and his new platform syncro partner Max Brick also achieved their best result yet with a silver medal.



In the individual event at Fort Lauderdale, Daley's scalps included FINA World Series champion Sascha Klein of Germany and Olympic silver medallist Luxin Zhou of China, who respectively took silver and bronze with scores of 552.15 and 549.70.



Daley earned his seven straight 10s with a backward three-and-a-half somersault tucked.



He followed this with five more 10s and two 9.5s for his final dive to seal the victory.



"It was my personal best score by 14 points so I'm really happy," said Daley, who has since switched his schooling to Plymouth College after the bulling problems he had before.



In the 10m syncho, Daley and Brick were leading after four dives but their final score of 423.48 was 34 points adrift of the winning score from David Boudia and Thomas Finchum of the USA.

[Mark O]

Well done Tom.

[Maurice]

ceefax:



13th Fina World Diving Championships, Rome:



British teenager Tom Daley produced a stunning final dive to win a shock gold at his first World Championships.



The 15-year-old was lying third in the 10m platform heading into the sixth round, but scored 100.30 with his final effort as his rivals faltered.



Pre-event favourite Qiu Bo was second, with Olympic gold medallist Matt Mitcham back in fourth.

[Mark O]

Good for Tom...........hope he'll be in the Olympics.

[Wolfgang]

Getting rid of grammar schools was single greatest political error from last century. You are always going to have dumps whatever system you have since there is legal obligation to educate dregs of society, but Great Britain now has no mechanism for bright kids to get into good schools, unless you can afford to go independent!

[Maurice]

Today's Daily Telegraph - front page photo and comprehensive interview



Tom, and his mother Debbie, talk to Judith Woods

[Maurice]

Daily Telegraph:



Tom Daley, the 15-year-old diving world champion, achieved an A* in a GCSE that he took a year early, despite studying the course for just 10 days.



Tom took the combined science exam in June, 12 months before he was due to sit the exam with his classmates. He had to learn the syllabus in less than a fortnight because of his busy training schedule.



He had intensive one-to-one tuition with teachers and ended up with the top mark.



Tom switched from a state school to a private college after he was bullied.



He sat the exam while training for the World Championships in Rome, where he won gold in the 10-metre platform event, and said he was as nervous about sitting the test as he was about competing as a diver in the event.



"All the hard work has paid off, although I must admit to being a bit worried about preparing in 10 days," he said.



"Fortunately, the preparation I received from school was thorough."

[Mr Sloane]

I really don't understand this thread's relevance. Tom's bullying is to be deplored but what is the point of the full history of what follows on a film forum ?