Has Tom Daley fallen for a girl with a matching smile? Diver in fledgling relationship with American star
By LOUISE ECCLES and LAURIE WHITWELL
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In recent months he has declared he is ‘not up for a relationship’. But it seems that diver Tom Daley may have spoken too soon.
The 18-year-old Olympic medal hopeful is apparently enjoying a fledgling romance with American diver Kassidy Cook, 17.
Close friend and fellow British diver Tonia Couch has revealed: ‘They’re a good couple. They’re a hot couple as well’.
New love for Tom? Texan diver Kassidy Cook is believed to be dating Olympic hopeful Daley. The petite brunette looks remarkably similar to the Briton
As well as sharing a love for diving, the petite pair also look remarkably similar, sharing the same dark tans, pearly-white smiles, brown eyes and dimples.
While the young athletes are not yet ‘boyfriend girlfriend’, Miss Couch admitted they are completely smitten with each other.
News that the pin-up has a new love interest will no doubt cause anguish for his legion of teenage admirers.
It is Daley’s second romance with an American diver, after he admitted kissing Mary Beth Dunnichay,
The 18-year-old recently said he was no 'up for a relationship' but if rumours are true, he may have spoken too soon
from Indiana, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he was 14.
In his new autobiography ‘My Story’, he revealed how he sneaked into her accommodation to give her a ‘proper kiss’, feigning an American accent to fool officials after he was caught in the wrong flat.
Texan diver Miss Cook will not be competing at the London 2012 Olympics after she narrowly missed out on selection.
However, she could travel to London to watch her team – and Daley – compete this summer.
Miss Couch, 23, who says she has a ‘brother sister’ relationship with Daley, said: ‘He likes his American girls.
‘He likes one of the American divers called Kassidy. They always like to see each other when they go away. She likes him. They both like each other.’
The two young divers met at a competition in 2010 and have kept in touch ever since.
Miss Couch says they have ‘started to speak to each other more’ in recent months and have even exchanged gifts.
She said: ‘They buy each other birthday presents, because they’re both in May. She has bought him an 18th birthday present.’
Miss Cook bought him a photo album full of photographs of the two of them.
On Daley’s 18th birthday, Miss Cook, who is a three times junior national champion on the 3m springboard, tweeted: ‘Happy birthday @TomDaley1994 the big 18! Haha miss youuu.’
Miss Cook was born in Plantation, Florida, where her parents still own petrol stations.
When she was four years old, she moved with her family to Houston, Texas, to facilitate her older sister Kara’s diving.
In a recent interview, she was quick to point out the similarities between her own family and reality television family, the Kardashians.
Like the Kardashians, she is one of six children and two of her four sisters are called Kylie and Kendall.
She said: ‘There’s the five girls and the one boy, and the mom’s, like, crazy and the dad’s just trying to be young. It just kind of reminds me of our family.’
Daley may have some competition for Miss Cook’s affections, however. In May, she told an online publication that she was dating Lance Miles, the American football quarterback at her high school.
News that Daley has a new love interest will no doubt cause anguish for his legion of teenage admirers
Tom Daley, aged 14 at the time, with his good friend Tonia Couch, aged 19 at the time, before the Beijing Olympics
Making a splash: Team GB diver Tonia Couch has grown up alongside Tom Daley and is a close confidant
Tonia said Tom would bounce back if his romance with Kassidy did not work out and added that he had so much to look forward to in his life
Better together: A young Tom with friend Tonia. The pair have travelled all over the world together in a bid to make their Olympic dreams come true
But if it doesn’t work out, Miss Couch believes Daley will quickly bounce back. She said: ‘It’s hard because he’s so famous, everyone just loves him because he’s famous.
‘He’s still young for a girlfriend I guess. He’s got so much ahead of him. He’s said to me he doesn’t want a girlfriend till after the Olympics. So, we’ll see. Some lucky girl out there.’
Daley has had a difficult year after losing his beloved father Robert Daley, 40, in May last year after a five year battle with cancer.
However, the teenager continued to train hard and is aiming for a medal this summer when he competes in the 10m synchronised and individual competitions.
In May, he was crowned European 10-metre platform champion in Eindhoven, Holland – comfortably reclaiming the title he first won as a 13-year-old.
Despite good performances, the athlete was criticised by British diving performance director Alexei Evangulov for not being focused enough on the Games.
Asked if his media commitments away from the pool were damaging to his chances at the Olympics, Mr Evangulov said ‘yes’, adding: ‘I know how the Chinese are training and they work much harder.’
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