PLYMOUTH diving sensation Tom Daley will head to this

summer's Olympic Games in the form of his short life after

setting a new personal best in Leeds on Saturday.

Daley took part in a 'display' only competition at the Great

Britain trials because he qualified for Beijing earlier in the

year.

He had initially been set to dive in the synchro event at

the John Charles Centre for Sport, but his partner, Blake

Aldridge was unable to dive after an elbow wound picked up in a

motorbike accident had become infected.

So Daley was left to dive on his own.

But he delighted the crowd with some sensational diving,

scooping numerous nines and even a couple of 10s from the

international judging panel, and broke the magical 500-point

barrier for the first time.

The 14-year-old Eggbuckland Community College pupil finished

with 512.05 points, which will have many of his competitors in

Beijing worried.

“I was delighted to set a new PB and finally break the

500-point barrier,” Daley told Herald Sport.

“It is a confidence boost coming in my last competition

before the Olympics.”

Daley admitted it was strange having no one to dive against,

but he felt it helped him.

“It was a bit weird but I treated it like a training

session,” he said. “I tried to use it as a learning curve.

“It was just something I had to deal with.

“I don't normally have a competition on my own, but the

crowd were very supportive and I just went out there to enjoy

myself.

“That's just what I have to do at the Olympics.”

Daley was glad he was not diving in Leeds for a place at the

Olympics like team-mates Brooke Graddon, Tonia Couch and Sarah

Barrow.

“That made my life easier,” said the youngster, who will be

joined in China by Couch.

“I found it very nervous watching the other events.

“The Olympic trials are terrible because they are so

cut-throat.

“It is a shame there is only going to be two Plymouth divers

going, but unfortunately that's sport.

“It's a tough world, but it's nice to have at least one

other Plymouth diver going with me.”

Daley's coach Andy Banks was certainly pleased with his

performance.

“He was diving well and I think that was a correct score for

him,” said Banks. “He ended up reasonably over 500, which was

great.

“He has now got over a psychological barrier. He had

previously got 498, 490 and 490-odd a few times, but never over

500.

“When he first went on the circuit less than two years ago

his goal was to break 400. So he has come a long way in a few

months really.”

Banks added: “Tom now knows he can do those dives well and

knows how to focus and what he has to do to keep that

going.

“But our goal for him is not an outcome goal in Beijing, it

is more a performance goal.

“Our first and foremost goal for him is to come away from

the Games happy with his performance.

“Hopefully, he can learn from it and have some fun as

well.”