Tom Daley will compete for the first time since winning the world title in Rome last year when he joins the rest of Britain's top divers to compete in the British Gas National Cup 2010 at Sheffield next month, where he is due to debut a new addition to his routine.

The three-day event, which takes place from February 5 to 7 at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, will give divers the opportunity to showcase their skills and earn their place on the team for the FINA World Cup.

Daley will be using the event to prepare for the international season, which is due to see him compete at the FINA World Cup, Commonwealth Games and European Championships.

The teenager has added one of the world’s hardest dives to his list for the new season, the back 2 ½ somersaults 2 ½ twists, and will perform the dive for the first time in Sheffield.

Daley said: "I am really looking forward to competing in Sheffield again.

"Last year was so great for me and I am excited to get 2010 started.

"I am going to be using my new dive in the competition and I am excited to use it for the first time in competition and see how it goes.

"It is one of the hardest dives out there and we have been working on it since I came back from the World Championships in August.

"For me this competition is going to give me a good confidence boost.

"If I perform well it will give me a good platform to build on for the rest of the competitions this year.

"The main events that I am looking at for 2010 are the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.

"Hopefully, if I compete well at the British Gas National Cup then I’ll be in a position to realise my season’s goals."

National Performance Director Alexei Evangulov is excited at the prospect of seeing strong performances from the elite of British Diving.

The Russian said: The British Gas National Cup is one of our key events for the beginning of 2010.

"Our competition year is split into three periods and this competition will let me see how the athletes have progressed.

"This period has run from September through to February and the British Gas National Cup will be the final event in that period.

"The divers have personal plans for the year and I will be interested to see whether they have developed as we have discussed.

"I want to see the athletes perform the best that they can and I hope they will impress me.

"This year provides a challenge for our athletes since normally trials are close to the beginning of a competition but we have a long gap between our trial and the World Cup so it will be interesting to see how they continue their fitness.

"For Tom this year is about perfecting his new list of dives.

"At the World Championships he won gold with well executed lower tariff dives and this shocked the world of diving but now we need him to progress and perform his list well at the World Cup.

"The British Gas National Cup will provide Tom with the chance to test his new list before international competition."