Diving sensation Tom Daley has just turned 16 and is in the middle of attempting to learn some tricky new dives. We caught up with him at a photoshoot to find out how he’s been doing.

You must have done a lot of photoshoots now. Do you have a best side that you like to show the photographer?

No, I just do whatever they say!

Obviously you’ve helped to raise diving’s profile, but have you noticed more people wanting to give it a go?

Yeah, there’s been a lot more interest in diving. And diving is different to some of the more normal sports, such as football and rugby, so I think it’s a great sport to get involved in. It’s just completely different to what people would normally do.

What kind of advice would you give to any readers who want to take up diving?

I think just to have a go. Just go for it and have fun and enjoy it really, because that’s all you can do.

When you first started diving, what did you think of it?

I found it scary, that was the main thing. It’s a real scary thing to do and when you’re stood on the edge of a 10m diving board, it’s a long way down. But after you’ve done it once, it’s a lot of fun.

How did your GCSEs go?

Well, I took some early, but I’ve just finished the rest. I took maths, English and two sciences in November and they were all A*s.

Do you think you’re going to do that well in all of the others?

Probably not! But who knows?

Will you be doing A levels?

Yeah, I’m going to be doing A levels. I’ve actually started them now, because I’m going to be away at the Commonwealth Games at the end of the year, so I’ve started a little bit earlier so that I can get a head start on them.

Which A levels will you be doing?

Photography, maths and Spanish.

Kids are bombarded with messages that exercise is vital for good health, but do you think they’re taking notice?

People do know that they have to take more exercise, but they always look at it and weigh up the differences between video games and sport, and they always go for the one that takes least effort! But everyone’s going to want to try sport the closer London 2012 comes.

Do you think video games are stopping more people from being active?

I think there are big distractions with computer games. You have to try not to be distracted by them and make sure that you go and do your exercise, because it’s a lot more important.

If you weren’t a full-time diver, what other sports would you be playing?

All I can think of now are trampolining and gymnastics, because they’re similar to diving. But I would like to be able to pole vault, that’s quite a cool sport.

Have you been happy with your form?

Yeah. This year’s been about learning new dives, so that’s the main priority. So this year in competition I’m expecting a bit of a knock. At the moment I’ve got three out of the four dives that I want to learn, so it’s just a matter of getting them perfected.

How do you start learning a new dive?

You start on a trampoline, learning the basics of it, then you learn in a harness. Then you have to learn it off the lower boards, and just gradually work your way up, adding extra somersaults as you go.

Do you worry about it going wrong?

Of course you worry, but if you let the gremlins crawl in and think about what could go wrong, that’s when you start doubting yourself. You just have to try and be as positive as possible.