Diving Star Opens Manchester Academy

Olympic diver Tom Daley opens the Tom Daley Diving academy at the Manchester Aquatic Centre. Photo credit: ANDREW BAKER GLL/Better Hand out to Press otherwise Ā© Andrew Baker.
Olympic diver Tom Daley opens the Tom Daley Diving academy at the Manchester Aquatic Centre. Photo credit: Andrew Baker.

Young local divers and school children trying diving for the first time got the chance to learn from the best when Team GB Olympic ā€˜Dive Starā€™ Tom Daley officially opened the Tom Daley Diving Academy at Manchester Aquatic Centre last month.

The venue is home for a host of elite athletes, many of who are using the fantastic facilities at Manchester Aquatics Centre ahead of Rio 2016.

Children from a local primary school joined Tom Daley as he gave a masterclass ā€“ many of whom had never dived before. The pool is run for Manchester City Council by the UKā€™s leading leisure charitable social enterprise GLL under the Better brand.

Peter Bundey, Deputy Managing Director, GLL said: ā€œGLL recognise the importance of getting more people, more active and more often. Where possible we want this to be by participation in sport ā€“ whatever their backgrounds and experience.

ā€œThis is a unique partnership with Tom and is a tremendous boost to getting more people enjoying and developing skills through diving. Having the Tom Daley Diving Academy in the North Westā€™s premier Aquatics venue is fantastic for us and for the growing population of Manchester.

ā€œThe Academy is already creating a future generation of Tom Daleys in London with a number of divers graduating into competitive club programmes and we look forward to that being replicated in Manchester.ā€