Thomas "Tommy" Burns (21 January 1868 – 6 July 1897) was a British diver born in Liverpool, England, known for his diving feats and athletic abilities.

Burns was also known to be a life saver and during his lifetime, is believed to have saved in excess of 40 lives, holding every medal and certificate from the Royal Humane Society.

In July 1897, Burns dived off Rhyl Pier in front of an audience of 3,000 people, which ended with him landing heavily on his back and struggling to swim to shore.

[4] Burns advertised himself as a "champion all round athlete of the world at diving, swimming, walking, running, boxing, pole jumping, horizontal bar, etc".

[5] On 15 June 1890, a challenge between him and American athlete Carlisle D. Graham[3] required them both to dive off Runcorn Bridge, swim 300 yards (270 m) then run 10 miles (16 km).

He was assessed by two doctors who determined that it would "be many weeks before poor Burns is able to attend to his professional duties", with him having to "indefinitely postpone" a planned 187 feet (57 m) dive off the Forth Bridge and a non-stop 100-mile run.

[9] On 7 August 1893, while preparing to dive from a 70 feet (21 m) high platform at Sheffield Botanical Gardens in front of several thousand spectators, a piece of timber snapped and he fell to the ground.

[12] Doubts were cast by railway officials as to whether Burns did actually jump off the Forth Bridge, with witness statements from two duty watchmen declaring that they did not see him, while authorities noted that workmen who had previously fallen from the same position had sustained serious injury.

[18] On a visit to Dundee, Scotland in 1895, Burns was appearing at the Grand Carnival in West Craigie Park when he attempted to dive off the Tay Bridge.

Despite thinking just a few of his friends were the only ones to know of his intentions, he arrived at the bridge to find it policed with railway officials and ultimately aborted his planned dive, telling a reporter that he would "do it some other day".

[20] Burns had been due to sail with his backer to New York in September 1893, where on arrival he would post a forfeit with the National Police Gazette and challenged any man in America to a jump or dive from any altitude between 112–135 feet (34–41 m).

[11] In August 1893, Burns was recognised in America by the Baltimore Express, which reported on his diving feats into the Royal Aquarium and from various British railway bridges.

[2] On 25 June 1895, he was recognised by the Daily Argus as "a noted swimmer and diver", reporting on his 100 feet (30 m) dive from a moving train into the River Mersey.

[24] Burns was reported by the Baltimore Express in 1893 to be 5.5 feet (1.7 m) in height and "the very picture of an athlete", with long experience in swimming and water gymnastics and by this time, had already won over 400 prizes.

A subscription list was opened and collected £3 and 18 shillings, which after paying the charge for transporting the corpse to Liverpool, the remainder was handed to his widow.

[34] Burns was buried in West Derby Cemetery, Liverpool on 10 July,[35] his body being carried by members of Tom Woods's minstrel troupe from the Pier Head.

[34] Tommy was buried in the Catholic part of the cemetery and his coffin bore the inscription: "Thomas Burns, died July 6th, aged thirty years, R.I.P.