“That was incredibly scary. If you don’t have that orientation,” he says, “you know how much you can hurt yourself. I have had stress fractures in my shins. I tore my triceps. I had a fold in my back. I broke my hand. I coughed up blood. I hit my head on the platform twice. When you get lost in the sky, these things go through your mind. (He not only got through it, though, but ended up making his debut in a new dive: a forward three-and-a-half somersault with one twist, with Daley ‘shooting out’ – a move his man nicknamed ‘the fireworks.”)
But as of today, the pressure is off and dreams have fully come true. Next up is what’s most exciting: Daley’s new jump, so to speak, now that he’s hung up his chamois.
First, his children are growing up quickly. Robbie, who convinced Daley to come back to Paris after Tokyo (when the diver first considered running away), is attending first grade in Los Angeles – and has been jumping off ten-foot diving boards since he was four . Daley tries to coach him, but “he doesn’t like being told what to do.”
There are also media, entertainment and sartorial activities to consider. In Paris, Daley remained as a pundit for Eurosport for the entire duration of the Games. He says he might be interested in doing something for the camera.
“I also enrolled in a course, a course at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles, to learn how to sew,” he adds. “I knit and crochet, but sewing just adds a whole other level of knowledge about how to construct things. I’ve actually designed a pair of underwear that I’m going to launch, and I’m hoping to launch a swimwear project next year as well.” Daley says he would like to scale businesses with these ideas, but is satisfied with Made With Love for now.
I ask him if he goes diving recreationally. He hesitates. “I don’t know,” he says. “It’s hard to dive that way. You need the right setup and pool. People don’t have that at home.” Everything about this next phase of his life – “being a ‘doer’ instead of a diver,” as he puts it – will require some recalibration.