Olympic champion Matty Lee is holding the memory of his late father close as he returns to international competition this summer.
The 25-year-old hurtled into the Olympic spotlight in Tokyo, linking up with close friend and Team GB legend Tom Daley for a glittering gold medal in the men's synchro 10m platform.
But a troubling past 12 months saw Lee take a step away from the pool and spend time with his family after suddenly losing his father Tim in October 2022.
Now, travelling back to Japan for the first time since Olympic glory for the upcoming World Championships, the echoes of his father's support will continue to ring in Lee's mind.
"Since losing my dad, I feel like there's an added light on me," he said.
"But if I’m struggling, I can just think of what he might say to me.
"He would never be too pushy; he was always so caring and so thoughtful and he was extremely supportive.
"It got to a point where it got annoying as any son or daughter would say but you realise how grateful you are for that.
"My scorpion tattoo is actually in memory of my dad. My family are all Scorpios and I feel like the scorpions are now protecting him in a way.
"My family watch me dive in many countries. I was once competing in the European Games, and it was Father's Day, and dad wouldn’t like to travel to exotic countries and for him, Baku was exotic.
"And it was even mentioned in his funeral that it ended up being one of the proudest moments of his life."
Throwing himself back into training following his dad's passing, Lee suddenly hit another setback in his diving career.
Various injuries in succession saw the diver forced to step back from competition once more and nurse himself back to full strength.
But with rest and recovery now firmly in the rear view, Lee is eager to put his troubles behind him and reach the dizzying heights of victory once more in Japan.
"I recently had a partial tear in my adductor magnus," he said.
"It wasn’t a full tear, if it was then I wouldn’t be able to dive.
"I tore it in Canada, I remember doing a twisted dive and it was a sharp pain and I had to ask for a scan, and it was good news that we found out what it was.
"I’ve been having injections and it's improving the pain, it’s a tear, so it's not going to heal overnight.
"In training it’s very hard to overcome the pain, but at the World Championships, I’m not going to let the pain stop me.
"I’ve been told that it's not going to get worse and next year I’ve going to a lot over summer to get in the best shape for Paris."
With Daley's current absence from poolside, Lee is now partnered with Dive London teammate Noah Williams.
Friends in and out of the pool, the duo have been training together since 2018, finally cementing their partnership on the international stage with World Championships silver and Commonwealth Games gold last year.
And in a classic 'the student becomes the master' narrative, Lee is now enjoying every dive with Williams on the path to Paris 2024.
"Getting the gold in Tokyo was a dream come true," he said.
"It was my first Olympics and it's mad to think I’ve got a 100% track record.
"It’s something I look at every day to remind me it’s all worth it.
"Noah is very different to Tom. Tom was such a big figure, so I was in his shadow a bit and now, even though my presence isn’t as strong as Tom's, it’s nice to get my own respect.
"Noah is more relaxed and we are closer age wise. For example, Tom had a kid, he was a lot more ahead of life, so Noah and I are a lot more relatable.
"We are very much able to fight for that top space and we got a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games last year.
"We’ve done it before, and we can do it again."
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