BRACE yourself for this: Grace Reid says that she feels like the grandma of the Scottish diving scene, despite the fact she is still only 21. It is not, however, quite as ridiculous a statement as it initially seems. Reid has been on the international scene since her mid-teens and has already competed in two Commonwealth Games for Team Scotland plus an Olympic Games, amassing a wealth of experience.

It is, however, only in the past couple of years that the Edinburgh springboard specialist has really made her mark. Last year, she won a bronze medal in the 3m springboard at the European Championships, becoming the first Scot to win a European individual diving medal for 62 years, while at the same event, she became European champion in the mixed 3m synchro alongside Tom Daley. Reid and Daley continued that form into this year, taking silver at the World Championships in Budapest in July.

However, despite her success, Reid was unwilling to rest on her laurels. She decided that in her attempt to continue improving as a diver, she would relocate to London to train alongside Daley and other members of the British squad. She put her university course on hold and made the move in late August - and she admits that she hasn’t looked back since.

“It’s been brilliant - I love the city and I love the set up,” she said. “I’m missing Edinburgh but it’s a great new environment for me. Trying to balance my studies plus my training and competition schedule last year was so tough and I wanted to give my all to diving so this was a really exciting opportunity for me.”

Reid will return to her home city this week though when she competes in the Scottish Diving Championships, which begin at the Royal Commonwealth Pool on Thursday. The event marks the start of the new season and Reid is thrilled to be returning home and to gauge in a competition setting what the past few months in London have done for her performance.

“I’m really excited about the Scottish Championships - they’ll be a good benchmark for me,” she said. “It’s been really nice being a full-time athlete – it’s allowed me to concentrate on things like my recovery and my nutrition so I’m feeling good.”

This year may have been hugely successful for Reid but as is often the case in elite sport, she has had a few downs to balance out the ups. At the European Championships in June, Reid, by her standards, underperformed, finishing 19th in the 3m springboard but whereas as a teenager she would have reacted badly to such a result, this time she used it as a learning tool.

“The European Championships were just not a good performance,” she said. “But I think that as I get older, I’m able to use these competitions as a learning experience. The margins for us are so fine - we do five dives with each lasting only two seconds so our entire competition lasts just 10 seconds so you have to use every experience possible to try to improve.”

Daley is now a celebrity outwith the diving bubble and so Reid’s mixed synchro partnership with the Englishman has brought her considerable attention. But she is adamant that the positives of training and competing with him far outweigh any negatives that the increased pressure may bring.

“It’s been amazing diving with Tom,” she said. “He is such a perfectionist and such a fantastic athlete so it’s really made me up my game. It’s not intimidating being beside him but it does make me want to do my very best. And to be honest, as soon as I step on that board, it’s just about me and my diving and it doesn’t matter who’s beside me.”

In just over four months, subject to her selection being confirmed, Reid will be competing in her third Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and she says it feels surreal to be preparing for her third Games having only just entered her 20s. But despite being a medal prospect this time around, she is trying to replicate how she felt ahead of her first Commonwealth Games, in 2010 when she was just 14.

“I know the ropes now so hopefully I’ll be able to use that experience to my advantage,” she said. “But when I think back to Delhi in 2010, I focused purely on doing the best I could and that actually ended up with me putting in a really good performance. So I’m trying replicate that young mentality because actually, when you’re out there just enjoying what you do with no pressure, that’s really helpful. So keeping some of that youthfulness is often not a bad thing.”