How a Plymouth Olympic Diver broke the mould with his talent for knitting.
At age 30, Plymouth’s Tom Daley, our dearly loved Olympic diver, has just announced his retirement from men’s synchronised diving 10 m – after bagging his recent Silver Medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. But its not a sad loss of Tom from our day to day news – Tom has crafted not only his diving skills, but a growing love of knitting and creativity, which has been followed around the world.
Tom pushed the boundaries in every direction – developing his knitting skills and a “spin off” of dealing with stress and mental health as things moved along. He also kicked to one side the idea of the stereotypical knitter being female and often of later years.
Knitting has more celebrity endorsements than you may imagine – with the likes of Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, Kate Middleton and Russell Crowe all known to pick up their needles.
It was 2020 when Tom first began his passion for knitting – picking up his needles and learning from YouTube videos. It kept him occupied during the dark months of Covid-19 and lockdowns, when diving was restricted. Tom said “I was absolutely awful at 1st. I couldn’t get the hang of it”
But he didn’t give up and what started as a hobby grew into a passion and a relaxation, running alongside the high pressures of competitive diving. Tom’s film producer husband, Duncan Lance Black, had suggested the idea of knitting – seeing actors picking up their needles and knitting squares between scenes on film sets to ease boredom.
Tom went one stage further and beyond the knitted square!
Tom’s knitting fame grew and Instagram became a shop window to showcase his makes – check out @madewithlovebytomdaley. There are ideas and makes there and over a million followers. And further more, Tom has released his own book of knitting projects and kits sold in mainstream stores.
It all started when Tom was just 7 years old. He was spotted as a talented youngster at the Plymouth Diving Club, and was competing internationally by age 9.
So lets look at the Olympics – Tokyo 2020 was where this Devon lad won Gold and another thing happened. The games were held in 2021 , after the Covid delay. Sat in the stands between dives and supporting his teammates, Tom could be seen knitting. These images went viral ! There followed a knitted cozy for the gold medal and a bespoke cardigan with Japanese writing, union jacks and the Olympic rings. The ultimate Olympic merchandise!.
At Paris 2024, Tom was once more knitting – this time a blue jumper creation with union jacks, Toms name on the back and on the front, the “A” from “Paris” was fashioned into the Eiffel Tower. It was a “little memento of Paris”, as Tom said.
This simple hobby made Tom appear approachable and relatable to the ordinary viewer.
There’s more to knitting than meets the eye. And the hidden message that Tom stands for is mindfulness and mental health; in public conversations, Tom has described how knitting has helped him cope with stress and anxiety at work and through life.
There are only so many items you can knit for yourself – so many of Tom’s knits have been auctioned for charity – the Olympic cardigan was sold in aid of the Brain Tumour Charity, in honour of his father, Rob. During Tom’s early career, Rob would drive his son to competitions and support his dreams. Sadly Rob had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2006 and died in 2011 – never getting to see his son win his first Olympic medal – a bronze in London 2012.