Diver Tom on board for 2012

GOLD medal hopeful Tom Daley steps out for the first time on one of the six dive boards being built in the London 2012 Aquatics Centre in Stratford.

The World Champion is pictured on the distinctive 5m curved concrete dive board, with the 10m board in the background and work underway on the other four bespoke boards, all designed by Zaha Hadid, the Aquatics Centre architect.

Tom was returning to the Aquatics Centre with other National Lottery funded 2012 hopefuls, 18 months after watching work get underway digging the dive pool which has already been tested and lined with tiles.

He said: “I’ve never seen a diving pool like it. The Aquatics Centre looks great inside and out and the dive boards are like waves coming out of the floor. Stepping on the dive boards has given me even more motivation to train and work hard towards getting back here in 2012.”

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said: “The Aquatics Centre is already starting to fulfil its role as a fantastic gateway to the Games at the entrance to the Olympic Park. Seeing the World Champion stepping out on the unique Zaha Hadid-designed dive boards for the first time gives a real sense of the sporting stage the venue will be in 2012 and its legacy.

With a unique 160m long wave-shaped roof the Aquatics Centre will be the main ‘Gateway into the Games’, hosting swimming, diving, synchronised swimming and the swimming discipline of the Modern Pentathlon. After the Games it will become a 2,500 capacity venue providing two 50m swimming pools with moveable floors and separation booms, a diving pool and dry diving area for the full range of community and elite use.