Tom Daley reveals what happens when you hit the water at 35mph

British diver Tom Daley has given fans and followers an update on his return to diving. It turns out that after a two-year break, returning to competitive diving can prove rather a shock to the body.

It’s been some time since Daley jumped from a 10m platform. Hitting the water repeatedly at 35mph can slap on your shoulders, and Daley revealed he’s still building up his strength in that area.

Bruised shoulders are not the only physical challenges he’s faced. He also shows off cuts from where he has inadvertently scratched himself while diving.

Watch the whole video below.

Daley, 29, and his husband, Dustin Lance Black, along with their two sons, are now living in Los Angeles after a few years in London.

Daley won the Olympic gold medal in the men’s synchronized 10m platform dive in 2020 in Tokyo, alongside diving partner Matty Lee.

He has not competed since that time. Many observers thought it unlikely he would return, and Daley himself said he seriously considered retiring from the sport.

However, he says a recent trip to the Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, USA, with his elder son, Robbie, made him decide to return to diving and try for one last Olympics.

“Paris 2024 is definitely a goal,” Daley said in another recent YouTube video.

“I’m not ready to be done and I don’t think I was ready to be done and hang up my trunks and move on with that part of my life and especially when my son Robbie said ‘Pappa I want to see you dive at the Olympics’.”

His husband’s words of support

Since announcing his return, Daley has been posting videos of his progress. He knows that earning an Olympic slot will not be easy. By competitive diving standards, he’s at the very top of the age range.

In another recent video, Daley talked about missing out on a medal at the 2016 Olympics and how devastated he was over his performance. He came 18th on the score board.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so angry and distraught and frustrated in my whole life,” he said. “It was that feeling of loss, after four years, to be the best I can be.

“And I remember, outside the pool, I met up with Lance. And he said to me, ‘Maybe your story doesn’t end here. This is not the end of you with diving. This is just the beginning. Maybe you weren’t meant to win an Olympic gold medal here because maybe your future child was meant to see you win an Olympic gold medal.

“And lo and behold, I won a gold medal [in 2020] and Robbie was able to see that.”