The London 2012 Summer Olympics is more than a year and a half away, but Tom Daley has already visited the Aquatics Centre construction site numerous times, and even stepped out onto the diving platform. I love the headline from the London 2012 press release: Tom Daley steps out on London 2012 dive board for first time, because it sounds like he’s getting an early practice in – you know, a year and a half out, before the crowds.

Aside from the headline, I also love that all the images are free for media use (here’s where I got the images for this post).

As you can see, Tom is far from suiting up for an actual practice session. However, it’s great to see a shot of the diving platforms under construction.

The boards were designed by Zaha Hadid, the Aquatics Centre architect, so that they will match the building’s overall design. Here’s what the diving well will look like when it’s completed:

According to a release by the Associated Press, the London 2012 Olympic Aquatics Center now has water in the pool!

David Higgins, chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority (the public body responsible for developing and building the new venues and infrastructure for the Games) said “Water is now in the diving pool. It hasn’t leaked. So far so good” (source).

From what I can see in this London2012.com webcam photo, it looks like the water David Higgins is talking about could just be the rain. It seems a little preemptive to fill the diving well before finishing the buildings’ walls and floor!

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Found via @aquaticsintl, according to an article on More Than The Games, the London 2012 Aquatic Centre’s 2800 ton roof was finally lowered into place after 8 months. Although plans for the roof were scaled down, the center is now expected to cost a total of

From London2012.com, found @London2012team, the pictograms or event icons for each sport discipline have been revealed. This year there are two versions, a more classic silhouette, and a ‘dynamic’ version that is meant to bring the picture to life.

Inspired by the London Underground map, I think the dynamic versions of the pictograms look more like the 3-D drawings you look at with blue and red glasses.

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> NBC News: Bob Bowman About The Suits the17thman via MSNBC.com
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10m champion Tom Daley (L) with former Olympic athlete Daley Thompson and Olympics chief (R) Lord Coe (source)

The Javelin train reaches speeds of 140 mph, and according to an article on Mirror.co.uk, impressed everyone at the ceremony by making the trip from London to Stratford 15 seconds ahead of schedule (6 minutes 45 seconds).

At this rate, trains leaving every 6 hours will be able to carry 25,000 Olympic visitors to and from the stadium each hour (source).