Tom Daley | "He'll Never Be a Diver"
The first time Andy Banks laid eyes on Tom Daley, Daley was standing at the end of a diving board in Plymouth, sobbing, refusing to go in. He'd hit his head on that dive the week before. Banks, who ran the club and whose attention every kid there wanted, said the boy would never make a diver as long as he lived. Daley was eight. He found out what Banks had said years later.
Banks coached him anyway. By twelve he was pulling Daley aside to ask whether he wanted to go to the Olympics — not London 2012, which was the dream Daley had drawn in a notebook, but Beijing, two years out, for which he had already written a plan that had Daley qualifying at thirteen and turning fourteen with eighty-one days to spare. It worked. What followed was five Olympics, five medals, and a gold in Tokyo that Banks greeted with: it's about bloody time.
In this conversation with David Begnaud, Daley talks about coming home from Beijing at fourteen to be tackled and threatened at school until his parents pulled him out. About losing his father — his loudest supporter, dead of a brain tumor at forty — the year before the London Games. About being warned by his own management that falling for Dustin Lance Black would be bad for his image. About finishing 18th in Rio, and what his dad had told him years earlier about finishing 18th. About knitting, which he thinks is the reason he won in Tokyo. And about what Banks taught him about fear: the day you stand on that board and aren't afraid is the day something goes wrong.
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Chapters ☀️
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Tom Daley
Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse
Associate Producer: Jonah Johnson
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social Media: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
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The first time Andy Banks laid eyes on Tom Daley, Daley was standing at the end of a diving board in Plymouth, sobbing, refusing to go in. He'd hit his head on that dive the week before. Banks, who ran the club and whose attention every kid there wanted, said the boy would never make a diver as long as he lived. Daley was eight. He found out what Banks had said years later.
Banks coached him anyway. By twelve he was pulling Daley aside to ask whether he wanted to go to the Olympics — not London 2012, which was the dream Daley had drawn in a notebook, but Beijing, two years out, for which he had already written a plan that had Daley qualifying at thirteen and turning fourteen with eighty-one days to spare. It worked. What followed was five Olympics, five medals, and a gold in Tokyo that Banks greeted with: it's about bloody time.
In this conversation with David Begnaud, Daley talks about coming home from Beijing at fourteen to be tackled and threatened at school until his parents pulled him out. About losing his father — his loudest supporter, dead of a brain tumor at forty — the year before the London Games. About being warned by his own management that falling for Dustin Lance Black would be bad for his image. About finishing 18th in Rio, and what his dad had told him years earlier about finishing 18th. About knitting, which he thinks is the reason he won in Tokyo. And about what Banks taught him about fear: the day you stand on that board and aren't afraid is the day something goes wrong.
Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com
Chapters ☀️
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Tom Daley
Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse
Associate Producer: Jonah Johnson
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)
Social Media: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co.
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
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