Interview with Lois Toulson: Diving is the closest thing to flying

Lois Toulson is a three-time European Diving Champion. Credit: Getty Images/Al Bello

Lois Toulson has competed in the international UK Diving competition since she was a teenager. She specializes in the 10m tower. Here, a 23-year-old girl talks about her life away from the pool.

Who would you like to meet alive or dead?

Sir David Attenborough. I've watched all the shows he's made and I love animals so much. I saw him once at Heathrow a few years ago and I have never been so impressed.

Describe yourself in three words.

Caring, loyal and dedicated.

If you had one superpower, what would it be?

Fly. I would like to be able to experience this. I suppose diving is the closest thing to it.

If you could be on a reality show, what would it be?

Possibly SAS: Who dares win. It definitely looks very difficult, and I like to exert myself physically and mentally. It would be really fun to go at the same time with my boyfriend [another diver Jack Loger] — I would love to beat him! Toulson's partner, Jack Loger, won an Olympic gold medal at the Rio Olympics. What is your worst habit?

I'm a bit of a perfectionist and like being organized, so sometimes it's hard for me to relax if things aren't tidy or sorted. I have to clean everything up, like when my boyfriend doesn't put his keys in the designated area near the door.

If you could swap lives with anyone in the world for a day, who would it be?

Louis Theroux. I could just spend the day chatting and interviewing all the people he meets. I find his documentaries fascinating and it would be great to be him. Lately, he's been interviewing celebrities while his seniors have been meeting with some rather controversial people, such as a trophy hunt in South Africa. He talks to people, trying to understand their point of view. It can be quite heavy stuff, but I find it interesting.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Going on holiday to Loch Lomond with my family. We've been doing this for about five years and spent days riding around the lake on a jet ski and riding an inflatable banana behind it. I have always loved water. My happiest memories are with water.

What is your favorite WhatsApp group?

My family has Team Toulson. Most of the content is made up of photos of our dogs. When I go to competitions, my parents look after our dog, Dougie, a golden retriever, and send funny videos of what he's doing.

What is most valuable to you?

Photos. I've been using a lot of disposable cameras recently and have enjoyed evolving them to have physical prints rather than photos on my phone.

What song makes you dance on the dance floor?

I'm not a very good dancer, but September is from Earth, Wind and Fire.

What do you dream about, a three-course meal and dinner guests?

I love to eat — my boyfriend and I are big gourmets. Start with fresh tomato and mozzarella salad. Then the beef pasta shin stew and one of those melt-in-the-middle chocolate puddings. The guests will be my family and friends. What I enjoy most is sharing delicious food with my favorite people.

Do you prefer lodging or lodging?

Definitely lodging — takeaway food and a good series every time. Jack and I watched Married at First Sight. It's reality trash TV, but it's really interesting.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

Believe in yourself. Sounds pretty simple, but confidence is something I've always had to work on. Having supportive people around you who give you confidence in yourself and your abilities is very important.

What gig have you been to the most?

I went to see The Weeknd in Leeds. He is one of my favorite artists and seeing him live was insane. I love music and I have quite a variety of musical tastes.

What's your karaoke song?

Karaoke isn't really my thing, but I'll call it Angel by Shaggy because it's just a fun song.

What is the most ridiculous thing you have ever bought?

Definitely matching pajamas for me and my dog ​​- green plaid pants for me and a matching shirt for him that we wore just past Christmas.

Toulson with his golden retriever 'Dougie' If you had a time machine, would you go back to the past or to the future?

Definitely back in time, to some happy memories from my childhood.

Which holiday did you like the most?

Journey to the Amalfi Coast with Jack. We made five different stops and I really fell in love with Italy – the food, the scenery…

Do you have any hidden talents or party tricks?

I have a very extended elbow so I can spin them pretty far away, which repels people.

What is your biggest non-sporting achievement?

Something I'm very proud of outside of diving is the house that Jack and I built. I really like the interior design, and in the two years that we live in our house, we have renovated almost all the rooms.

When we go on a trip, we buy little things that we can add to the house and make it special. We did most of the work ourselves and enlisted the help of family members.

The bathrooms were quite sophisticated; they were the most stressful. We did a bathroom and master bathroom and had to rip the tiles off both and do them again. The limestone soaked up all the grout and the hexagonal tiles we had were hard to put in — we did quite a bit and realized it looked like crap.