Tom Daley and the word grandad is perhaps not a combination you’d expect to hear together - but Leon Taylor would beg to differ.

Nine years have passed since the fresh-faced teenager burst onto the scene as a 14-year-old competing at the Beijing 2008 Olympics before being crowned 10m world champion in Rome a year later with a performance that changed his life.

But with Tonia Couch’s retirement leaving room for a senior head in the GB team in 2018, Taylor – who was the elder statesman in Daley’s formative years – is confident he’s the man to fill those shoes.

And with a Commonwealth Games to prepare for next April, there’s hardly a more important role to take in the build-up to Gold Coast, however old he is.

“It’s fair to say now that Tom Daley is the grandad of the team,” said Taylor, speaking at SportsAid’s annual SportsAid Ball in London. “Many years ago he took great delight in calling me grandad!

“He’s the oldest and most experienced member of the team - especially with Tonia stepping aside.

“It’s an exciting time, but a challenging time too, with a lot of the coaches not being there anymore. So we will see how that pans out.

“But we’re midway through the cycle and there’s plenty of time for people to find their feet and we’re already seeing some great results coming through from those youngsters.

“Commonwealth Games are quite early in the season but it’s a high-profile event and in the Gold Coast, so Tom and the rest of the team will head out there to take on the Australians and the Canadians – who are very strong diving nations.

“I’m hoping that his body can hold together over the next few years and that he’s got one more Olympic push in him.”

Daley’s rise to fame has been well-documented ever since becoming the first recipient of the SportsAid one to watch award in 2006 – when just 12 years old.

Since then two Olympic bronze medals, in London and Rio, have come his way in the 10m platform and 10m synchro respectively, before repeating his teenage feats with his second platform world title this year.

That followed an Olympic experience far from perfect in Rio last year, with Taylor full of admiration for the way the 23-year-old bounced back on the global stage in Hungary.

Now the challenge for Daley is to keep that going with Tokyo 2020 in mind, with 2018 itself holding plenty of interest off the boards.

“This year in Budapest, to come back and be crowned world champion – and not just by his competitors making mistakes - by outdiving the Olympic champion, he made a big statement,” Taylor added.

“Lots of people had potentially written him off following an underperformance - by his own admission - in Rio.

“But to come back a year later and stamp his authority in such a way was incredible to watch and I was delighted to be covering it on the commentary.

“After next year’s Commonwealths they’ll have a few months to come down from that before the World Diving Cup and the Europeans - which are of course a home event in Glasgow.

“So it’s a busy year but it’s half way through an Olympic cycle so you’ve got half an eye on the horizon, Tokyo 2020, but also a focus on the medium and long term goals.”

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