“Thank you, diving. Over and out.” The time has come: Tom Daley is ready to bid farewell to the sport that has made him one of England’s greatest and most decorated sportsmen of all times. Or at least, farewell to the relentless grind and pressure of being a professional athlete in the big league — a five-time Olympian and five-time Olympic medallist, to be precise. The news arrives on the heels of his final season as Team GB’s official diver at the Paris Olympics, just days after securing a silver medal alongside his teammate Noah Williams in the 10m synchro diving event.

Daley first stepped onto the diving board for Team GB in 2008, representing his country at the Olympic Games in Beijing as the youngest member of Britain’s squad at just 14 years old. Over the 16-year career that followed, he not only claimed every medal within his reach but also became England’s sweetheart — a role model for aspiring athletes, a vocal advocate for queer representation in sport, a devoted father of two, and the face behind everyone’s favourite knitting account on Instagram.

Now, at 30, Daley is ready to hang up the trunks, with Paris marking his final dance. But for an athlete with such a storied career, how do you know it’s the right time to step away? “I don’t think you ever really know when it’s the right time,” he muses, speaking from his home in Los Angeles, where he’s now based. “I always had in my head that I could do five Olympics, and if I’m being honest, I probably could do six or seven if I really wanted to. But at some point, you have to get on with your life.”

When we sit down with Tom, we’re eager to ask the question on everyone’s mind: what’s next? “I have lots of ideas of things I want to do next,” he laughs. One of those is expanding his knitwear fashion brand, Made With Love by Tom Daley. Back in 2020, Daley took the internet by storm with his then newfound passion for knitting — chances are, you remember his infamous Olympic cardigan for Tokyo 2020. Several years and many sweaters, medal pouches, and even a croissant bag later, his pandemic-born hobby has evolved into a thriving side business and space for him to connect with the crafting community. And now, he’s merging his influence in the crafting sphere with a greater project and lifelong commitment: raising awareness around water safety.

“Don’t Drink and Dive” is Daley’s latest venture in partnership with Malibu and the Royal Life Saving Society UK. Together, they’ve created a collection of knitted pieces — from sunglasses and slides to swimming briefs and bucket hats — with all profits going towards the cause. “One in four drownings involve alcohol, which for me, was a very shocking statistic,” Daley explains. “[The campaign] is about making people more aware of the dangers of alcohol near water. We’re not saying never consume alcohol; it’s about making sure you’re drinking responsibly and not putting yourself in dangerous situations.”

A conversation with Daley is filled with moments that confirm why he’s become one of the most important voices of his generation. He’s leaving the pool with his head held high, with the self-awareness and confidence of a top-tier athlete, and the cheeky, charming, and light-hearted spirit that has captivated fans since his debut. Tom has made his country, and his family, proud. And now, he’s ready to continue doing so — while also spending some time at fashion school in LA, learning how to sew, as one does.

Keep scrolling to read our full conversation with Tom Daley…

Tom! Thanks so much for chatting with us. How are you today?
I’m good! Back in LA now and so have had a few days of jet lag since coming back, but, you know, making it work. So it’s all good, amazing.

It’s been a busy summer for you. So how’s life after the Olympics? Have you been on a diving board yet?
No, no diving boards in sight. Although I do plan on taking [my son] Robbie to the water park, because to me, that’s like my fun space. It’s like the perfect balance between playing in the pool and also the adrenaline of diving without actually having to do any of the diving. So yeah, I’m looking forward to taking him there.

What was it like embracing the challenge of your fifth Olympics?
You know, going into my fifth games, I had no idea what it was going to be like for me. I originally had taken two years off after Tokyo, and I didn’t know what was going to happen – if I was going to get on the synchro team or whether I was going to qualify, and what it was going to be like. The last Olympics was very much a no crowds, no atmosphere situation, whereas at least this time around, there were crowds, an atmosphere, and I got to do it in front of my kids, my family, which was really, really special.

Did you hesitate at all in the beginning?
There wasn’t [any hesitation]. There was a slight apprehension, if you like, about whether or not it would be right to come in at the last minute and just do it. So it was more morally. But then it turned out that Matty got injured, and they wouldn’t have actually qualified for a spot unless I came back.. So it kind of timed out quite perfectly.

Do you ever get used to the magnitude of being part of such a massive event?
It’s funny, because I did it when I was 14 in 2008 and I had no idea about the magnitude of it. I kind of wish I could go back to that mindset of just, ‘oh, it’s just another competition.’ It was only as I got older that I realised the amount of eyes on it, the amount of people that watch it. But at the same time, you kind of have to treat it like any other competition, because as long as you have that perspective, it allows you to actually just enjoy the competition. I only really learned to enjoy the Olympics in the last two. So it took me three to warm up to doing the final two.

Do you remember what first sparked your love for diving?
You know, it was actually when I went to a local swimming session. I saw people diving, and I just thought it looked cool to be able to do all those sorts of twists and turns into the water. So I thought, you know, I would give that a go. I want to try and do that.

So I ended up just trying it out and loving it. I love the adrenaline of it. I love the excitement. I love the fact that it’s a little bit dangerous, a little bit scary, but at the same time, I also have fun, and I’ve got to meet loads of really cool people. So I think that was the nice thing, to be able to have that balance.

Can you give us a quick rundown of what the Paris Olympics meant to you? What are some of your highlights and favourite memories?
The Paris Olympics, for me, felt like it was a bonus year, because like I said before, I didn’t know if I was even going to be able to qualify. But at the same time, it was just really special to soak in every single moment. Like when we parade it out, usually I’d be very focused. Like ‘oh my gosh, I need to focus on diving, diving, diving’, whereas this time I was like, ‘I want to be able to spot my family in the crowd. I want to be able to remember the atmosphere, and I will try and wave to as many people when waving the flag.’ I wanted to soak every moment in, and experience the village, being able to see all of my friends from around the world again, because who knows when I’ll get to see them again now that I’m done.

Also it was the first time I ever did just the synchro and not the individual as well. So it really gave me a chance to enjoy the rest of the Olympics too, without having to be an athlete. So that was special.

You announced your retirement last week. How did it feel heading to Paris knowing it’d be your last challenge representing Team GB.
I mean, it was very emotional actually, because every time, I thought, ‘oh this is my last training session in London. This is my last training session in Paris before the competition’. There were a lot of laughs, but although I didn’t know it really, I kind of knew that it was going to happen. But I also wanted to keep it focused on the competition. I really felt like this was a big decision to make. So it took me the rest of the Olympics to actually figure out that this was really going to be the last one. I thought, ‘you know what, I think it is time to hang up the trunks and move on to the next chapter of my life.’

Do you remember what was going through your head as you stepped onto the platform for the last time?
Yeah, I remember standing there and thinking, ‘you know what, this is my last dive. And I’m looking around at all of the people here that have come out to support me, my family, my kids.’ And it was a really emotional moment, because I needed to hold it together. Because I have to do this dive to secure a medal. But at the same time, I was like, ‘no, it’s fine.’ There’s been a long career of highs, lows and everything in between. I guess it was a sense of pride.

You qualified for your first games at 14. Now at 30, how do you reflect on your career?
I look back and probably think it’s a very long career. But I can look back and I’m proud to say that I’ve achieved every single thing that I wanted to be able to achieve. I won every single tournament. I won every single championship. And I can look back and be very, very proud of that.

And on some occasions, against all odds. Sometimes it didn’t make sense that I was going to be able to compete, because of injury or because of certain life events, all of those things. And just to be able to come out the other side of it in one piece, and being able to look back and think, you know, I did everything I could. Yeah, that’s what I’m happy with.

What brought you the most joy over the years, and what do you think has changed the most for you since you started?
Competing in front of my kids was pretty special, I have to say that. But looking back now, I think about all of the friendships that I’ve made, with people from all around the world. And the fact that I set my mind to something – if I work really hard, I can achieve it. All of those things, not so much the medals and the achievements. It’s more the journey that went into doing it, the fact that I worked really hard, the fact that I set myself a goal and went for it. Those are the things that I will look back on in the future and think, ‘I’m really proud of the way that I handled all of that, being so deeply involved in the diving community for so long.’

I can only imagine that it’s been such a big part of your life. How and when did you know it was the right time to step away?
I don’t think you ever really know when it’s the right time. I think I always had in my head that I could do five Olympics, and if I’m being honest, I probably could do six or seven Olympics if I really wanted to. But you also have to get on with your life at some point. I’m already the oldest on the team and so many people retire between the ages of 24 and 26. I was like, I just want to give this one more go because I could. I felt like I was still at a standard where I could win a medal. So for me, it’s just about figuring out when in my life is the right time to start developing the next part of my career and not leaving it too late to do that, but at the same time stepping away at a time where I was still at a very high level within the sport.

Tell me a bit more about your new project with Malibu. How did that come about?
So that came about at the very beginning of this year. The creative genius behind the ‘Don’t Drink and Dive’ slogan got me right away because I am a SERIOUS dad joke person, and I love the play on words. But behind that is such a serious message that is so important, and I love the fact myself, Malibu, and the Royal Life Saving Society UK were able to come together and deliver an extremely important message around alcohol and being near water.

One in four drownings involve alcohol, which for me, was a very shocking statistic. It’s key to spread the word about that and even if someone sees that once, if it flashes in their face, or you see a glimpse, that it is going to make people be a little bit more mindful about how they act around water when alcohol is involved. I think being able to spread that word around water safety is incredibly important.

What do you think is the aim of the ‘Don’t Drink and Dive’ campaign? What does it mean for people?
It’s something that is hopefully going to make people more aware around the danger of alcohol when you’re near water. It’s not that we’re saying never consume alcohol. It’s about making sure that you’re drinking aware, and you’re making sure that you are not putting yourself into dangerous and harmful situations.

If you see the ‘Don’t Drink and Dive’ message once, then you tell a friend about it, and that person tells their friend about it, it just spreads the word about water safety. I’ve been passionate about water safety from such a young age, whether that comes to, you know, kids learning to swim at a young age, whether it’s adult water safety. Having spent my whole life in water, I know how dangerous it can be, so being able to spread that message and get it out there as much as possible is really important.

Over the past couple of years, you’ve become a massive hit online with your knitting skills. So tell me about your relationship with the craft. How did it start?
I think the whole thing started back in 2020 when my coach said to me that I am always on the go, always doing too much, so she said I need to find something where I was sitting down and not doing very much. Then my husband said to me, ‘why don’t you try knitting? People do that on film sets all the time, and it’s a great way to kind of switch off from everything.’ So I went onto YouTube and got some videos to learn how to do it. I got some knitting needles, got some yarn, and I just fell in love with it. It was difficult in the beginning, but once I got the hang of it, I loved it.

I went on to doing crochet and once I learned how to do both of those, I started learning how to make patterns. That’s where Made With Love came from — I love being able to spread the things that I am passionate about. When it came to knitting, it was about knitting things that had a certain level of importance and significance to me.

So that’s where the Olympic cardigan came into effect. With the Malibu collection, it spreads an important message as well, which was something that really made the partnership work really well. We’ve got sunglasses, we’ve got sliders, bucket hats, and of course the swimming briefs. I love the colours, I love the message. Everyone needs to be rocking crochet swimwear around the pool this summer. And all the proceeds from anything that is bought will go to the Royal Life Saving Society UK to try and spread the message further around water safety.

And what was your reaction to the internet’s excitement over it?
Back in 2020 I made a new Instagram account that just was my knitting, which was Made with Love by Tom Daley. I didn’t really think that people were going to be interested in knitting, which is why I kind of had a separate account, and then all of a sudden, I ended up going into the Olympics with about 50-60,000 followers on my knitting account, which I thought was pretty good. And then the internet kind of grabbed onto it, and then all of a sudden I woke up and there were, like, 1.3 million followers on my knitting account.

I love the crafting community online, because people are so friendly, so welcoming when it comes to questions, queries, if you need help. The reaction has been incredible. If it can inspire someone to be a little bit more mindful when it comes to creating something themselves, that’s not just knitting and crochet, just any crafts in general, it can really help with mental health.

Now that the pressure is easing, and you have more time to focus on other activities, what’s something you’d love to try? Pottery, maybe? Watercolour painting?
You know I actually like pottery, I think it’s a really interesting one. I also want to learn how to machine sew. Lance, my husband, got me some classes for my birthday. So I’m going to go down to the Fashion District in downtown LA to learn how to sew, which will be fun.
Love that.

Speaking of, tell us a bit about your relationship with fashion. Would you ever consider pursuing a career in that industry?
I’ve always been really into fashion, but the problem was I was always diving and training, so I never really had much time to explore that side. After Tokyo, I’ve had a couple of years to be able to do all of that stuff and now I’ve been able to develop Made with Love into more of a fashion brand. I would love to be able to create more ready-to-wear pieces and knitwear. So that’s the dream. And I’d love to one day create a swimwear and underwear line. I feel like swimwear is very me. Swimwear and knitwear are two very different things, but it just makes sense.

You’ve made history, and you brought so much joy to your country. Looking back, what are you most proud of and what do you think you’ll miss the most?
Oh, gosh. I mean there’s loads of things that I’ll miss from diving — the travelling and being with my friends and having a goal to work towards. I’d say one of the things that I’m most proud of is the fact that I didn’t give up on winning an Olympic gold medal, because I think that was something that I’d always wanted my whole life. Persevering through the hardships, the fact there were times that I thought I’d never be able to get it but I persevered — I think that’s something I will look back on and be very proud of as well.

How do you cope with the idea of letting this go? Is it scary?
Yeah, I think there’s all kinds of feelings. It’s sad, it’s scary, it’s also exciting, because there’s lots of things that I’m excited about doing. Diving was such a bedrock of everything that I did, I knew that if things outside of sport weren’t going well, I could always go to competitions and do my best and have that part of my life be as successful as I was willing to make it when putting work in. Whereas outside of that is very much unknown to me. And I think that’s scary but also exciting, because you have that feeling that anything can happen next. You kind of have to roll with the punches a little and see where it takes you.

Do you already know what’s next? Or are you taking some time to kind of appreciate the process?
I have lots of ideas of things I want to do next, like I want to develop Made With Love into a more fully-fledged fashion brand, as well as being able to create something that is community-led with knitting, and get people to be able to make things themselves. I think there are lots of ideas I have. I also want to pursue hopefully one day becoming a TV host, and I think that over the next couple of years, I kind of have to lay the groundwork into, hopefully achieving that as well.

And what legacy do you want to leave behind? How do you want to be remembered?
I’d like to be remembered as the guy that didn’t give up and worked really hard throughout his life – and worked hard to be an out, visible queer athlete. Not letting anything about themselves limit what they can achieve. I think hopefully younger kids getting involved in sport feel like they have a place in sport as well.

Malibu and Tom’s limited-edition ‘Don’t Drink and Dive’ stock is available to purchase here. For more information on responsible drinking around water, Malibu and RLSS UK have shared leading tips on staying safe around water when consuming alcohol at dontdrinkanddive.com