A Westcountry diver will become Britain's youngest male Olympian at this summer's Beijing Games.

Tom Daley, a 13-year-old from Plymouth, qualified for the 2008 Games after finishing seventh in the men's 10-metre diving competition at the FINA World Cup in Beijing.

The platform diver required a top-eight finish and delivered with the second-highest scoring dive of the competition - 100.30 including four 10s.

Daley, who is a member of Plymouth Diving Club, had already set a new record on Friday when he became the youngest medal winner in world diving history after coming third in the men's synchro platform with Leeds' Blake Aldridge.

However, he admitted nerves had got to him during the tense final at Beijing's famous Water Cub venue, but insisted he was "over the moon" at pre-qualifying for this summer's Olympics.

He told Herald Sport: "It's an amazing feeling knowing I'm going to the Games - it's my greatest dream come true.

"To know that my name will be on the scoreboard at the Olympics is something I've been working hard and dreaming about since I started diving.

"I'm happy with the way I dived, especially that last one. I missed one, which was down to nerves, but that goes to show I'm a not a robot.

"But after making the mistake, I was pleased at my response. To be honest, I didn't know whether I'd make the semi-finals let alone the finals.

Tom Daley: "It's an amazing feeling knowing I'm going to the Games - it's my greatest dream come true."

"So to get a top-eight place and now know that I'm going to the Olympic Games is just fantastic.

"I'm over the moon - it's an amazing feeling and hard to believe."

Rob Daley, Tom's father, who travels with his son to all major diving events, said the realisation was only just sinking in.

"He's been knocking on the door of the Olympics for about a year and we never really knew whether he'd go or not," said Rob.

"But now that he has, it's incredible - we're all on a high and will be for days to come. It was nerve-wracking, though, as Tom had slipped back slightly after his fourth dive. But that's all history now - he's going to Beijing - he's done it."

And he did it in some style, too, as Daley had needed to produce something special from his sixth and final attempt, after a disappointing fourth dive saw him in danger of dropping out of contention.

With the pressure mounting, Daley missed his armstand back triple to make the job of securing a top eight finish and making his mark in history much more difficult.

Daley kept the crowd on tenterhooks, waiting until the final round to see whether they were watching history in the making.

But the Eggbuckland Community College student removed all doubt from the issue with a powerful reverse three-and-a-half which scored four 10s - a routine he had only learned four weeks earlier.

The gold medal went to Sascha Klein of Germany with 566.85, Lu Xin Zhou took the silver with 543.40 and United States ace David Boudia took bronze with 526.65, with Daley totalling 480.40.

Daley will be 14 years and 81 days when the Olympic competition begins in August, which would see him take over the youngest ever title from another diver.

Fred Hodges was 15 years and 94 days at the 1936 Berlin Games - a feat bettered only by Margery Hinton, who swam for Britain at the 1928 Olympics when aged 13 years and one month.