With Olympic diving more popular than ever, a youngster who honed his skills on a Shipley diving board is ready to represent his country at a youth Olympic event.

Baildon teen Sam Thornton has already competed in competitions with Olympic medalist Tom Daley, and now has his eyes set on his own Olympic moment at the next games in Rio De Janeiro.

A former diver for Bradford Esprit, Sam was selected to represent Team GB at the 6th Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney next week.

The 16-year-old Woodhouse Grove pupil has defied the odds to be part of the competition, as just a few months ago he was recovering from a broken arm.

At the games he will be part of a team of eight divers, and is competing in the 10-metre platform and three metre synchronised platform.

Thirty nations will participate in the festival and there will be 17 sports on the programme including diving, and many of the Sydney 2000 Olympic venues will be used.

Sam said: “Last year I had a bad injury, breaking both bones in my lower right arm, which stopped me competing at the Junior Europeans and was told it would take six to 12 months to mend and for me to be back to full training.

“I was back in full training after four-and-a-half months, which was amazing.

“I’m flying out on Friday, and it is probably the biggest honour of my diving career. There are quite a lot of good diving nations going. I’m hoping to get a few personal bests and come home with a medal. This is where a lot of people go on the road to the Olympics. It’s the stepping stone to Rio, that’s the big dream.

“The Chinese will be the main competition, but we’ve got a lot of great divers on our team too.”

He has competed against Daley, who won bronze in London 2012, at contests in the past, and said: “He is a really nice guy, a great inspiration.”

Sam started diving when he was seven-years-old and won the National Novice competition Under 9 just six months later. In 2011 he was selected to represent GB at the Junior European Championships where he won a bronze medal in the 1m competition. He learned much of his diving skills on Shipley Pool’s diving boards, and is currently an Ambassador for Bradford Sport, attending numerous events for photography and speaking.

Councillor Andrew Thornton, Bradford Council’s executive for sport, said: “Sam’s selection for the AYOF represents a marvellous turnaround after he broke his arm earlier this year, which is the result of his determination to put that setback behind him.”

Bradford Esprit Diving Club is the competitive outlet for Bradford Council’s sport and leisure service’s coaching and training scheme.