The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) today issued pictures of the UK’s most successful diver on the distinctive five-metre curved concrete dive board, with the 10m board in the background and work underway on the other four bespoke boards, all designed by Zaha Hadid, the Aquatics Centre architect.

Tom Daley was returning to the Aquatics Centre with other National Lottery-funded 2012 hopefuls, 18 months after watching work get underway digging the dive pool which has already been tested and lined with tiles.

Tom Daley also laid a tile in the 50m competition pool with Paralympic swimming hopeful Louise Watkin, beneath the curved timber ceiling which is being clad with 30,000 individual sections of red lauro hardwood.

During the National Lottery visit gymnast Louis Smith became the first athlete to be interviewed in the Olympic Park media centre, distance runner Emily Pidgeon stood on the final straight in the Olympic Stadium and BMX rider Shanaze Reade saw the completed Velodrome track.

Tom Daley said: 'I’ve never seen a diving pool like it. The Aquatics Centre looks great inside and out and the dive boards are like waves coming out of the floor. Stepping on the dive boards has given me even more motivation to train and work hard towards getting back here in 2012.'

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said: 'The Aquatics Centre is already starting to fulfil its role as a fantastic gateway to the Games at the entrance to the Olympic Park. Seeing the World Champion stepping out on the unique Zaha Hadid designed dive boards for the first time gives a real sense of the sporting stage the venue will be in 2012 and its legacy.

'After the Games everybody will have a chance to emulate Tom Daley and other athletes when the diving and swimming facilities open for a full range of elite and community use.'

Architect Zaha Hadid said: 'The design of the diving boards is a continuation of the Aquatic Centre’s fluid architectural language. The dive board arrangement and design seeks to fully exploit the spectacle and drama of ascending the dive boards and diving.'

With a unique 160m-long wave-shaped roof the Aquatics Centre will be the main ‘gateway into the Games', hosting swimming, diving, synchronised swimming and the Swimming discipline of the Modern Pentathlon. After the Games, it will become a 2,500-capacity venue providing two 50m swimming pools with moveable floors and separation booms, a diving pool and dry-diving area for the full range of community and elite use.

The wave-shape roof of the Aquatics Centre is complete and the two 1600-tonne temporary seating stands that will boost the venue to 17,500 seats for the Games are taking shape.

Dive board factfile

• The six unique boards are being made on site with more than 462 tonnes of high-tech self-compacting concrete poured into glass-fibre reinforced plastic moulds around a skeleton of steel bars which make the distinctive shape.
• Five months of extensive laboratory and on-site trials were carried out to perfect the construction technique and precise smooth finish of the concrete.

The different boards in the dive tower are:

• 5m board with 1m spring board below
• 7.5m board and 3m board
• 10m board
• 3m springboard
  

• The extra-strong dive board moulds, designed to withstand pressure of 7 tonnes per square metre, were made in Manchester from full-scale polystyrene models cut in Sussex by computer from a 3D model.
• The especially designed mix of ‘self-compacting’ concrete is poured overnight to ensure no interruptions in the pour.
  

Notes to editors:

Images of Tom Daley on the 2012 dive board can be downloaded at   http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr145099427 (B-roll footage is available from the ODA press office)

Images of the other National Lottery funded athletes that visited the Olympic Park site can be downloaded at http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr145119742 which includes pictures of gymnast Louis Smith, distance runner Emily Pidgeon in the Olympic Stadium, Paralympic swimming hopeful Louise Watkin in the Aquatics Centre competition pool and BMX rider Shanaze Reade in the Velodrome. The National Lottery is also investing up to £2.2 billion towards the infrastructure and venues of London 2012.

Digital images of the Aquatics Centre can be downloaded at: http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr126137967

Aquatics Centre factfile

The Zaha Hadid designed Aquatics Centre is located in the south of the Olympic Park and will be the main ‘Gateway into the Games', hosting Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo finals and the Swimming discipline of the Modern Pentathlon.
 
The Aquatics Centre will have a capacity of 17,500 during the Games, reducing to a maximum of 2,500 in legacy, with the ability to add 1,000 for major events, and provide two 50m swimming pools with moveable floors and separator booms, a diving pool and dry diving area.

Eleven industrial buildings have been demolished on the 55,000sq m site.
 
Around 160,000 tonnes of soil have been dug out on of what was one of the more challenging and complex areas of the Olympic Park, contaminated with pollutants, including petrol, oil, tar, solvents and heavy metals such as arsenic and lead.
 
Four skeletons were discovered and removed from a prehistoric settlement discovered on the site of the Aquatics Centre.
 
140,000 tonnes of clean soil has been brought from other areas of the Olympic Park to prepare for construction to start.
 
Balfour Beatty is building the Aquatics Centre and huge land bridge that forms the roof of the training pool and the main pedestrian access to the Olympic Park. Construction work will be complete in 2011 for Test Events ahead of the Games.
 
The river that runs alongside the venue has been widened by 8m by building 550m of new river walls.
 
The sweeping roof, which is 160m long and 80m at its widest point, is an innovative steel structure weighing over 3,000 tonnes with a striking and robust aluminium covering, half of which is recycled, resting on three supports.

Construction started on the foundations in July 2008. A 3,000-tonne concrete ‘bridge’ has been built spanning and protecting the tunnels which have been dug to run powerlines beneath the site. The 18.5m-tall northwest roof support has been built on top of this base.

The permanent section is complete of the 250m and 45m wide land bridge that forms the main ‘gateway to the Games’ from the Stratford City development, spanning the Aquatics Centre and forming the roof of the training pool.
 
866,000 ceramic tiles made are being installed in the pools, poolside and changing rooms (180,000 lining the pools themselves). The tiles were delivered by train to the Olympic Park. Most of the tiles are white with blue tiles used for the lanes in the competition pool which have to be placed perfectly to ensure the lanes are straight.
 
Over 30,000 sections of sustainably sourced red lauro timber are currently being placed on the curved Aquatics Centre ceiling, after being precisely cut using 3D computer modelling – despite the ceiling curving in two directions the joining lines must be absolutely straight to make them easier for swimmers doing backstroke to follow.

Work is underway on the two 1,600-tonne steel frames of the temporary seating stands that sit either side of the Aquatics Centre roof and the colourful steel seat supports are being lifted into place.

A system of thirteen filters each filled with 16 tonnes of sand is already in place to filter the pool water when the first pool is filled next spring. Overflow water will be reused to flush the Aquatics Centre toilets.  
 
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For further information please contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on +44 (0)20 3 2012 700.

The construction of the venues and infrastructure of the London 2012 Games is funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and the London Development Agency.

Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog.