Blake Aldridge (born 4 August 1982) is a British
synchronised diver, who dives for The Crystal Palace Diving Club. He is also a professional high diver and cliff diver on the
Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, established in 2009 and created by Red Bull, is an annual international series of cliff diving events in which a limited number of competitors determine the Cliff Diving World Series winner.
Divers j ...
where he has won 6 podium finishes.
Biography
Aldridge attended Downsview Primary School in Norbury London and then Stanley Technical High School for Boys in South Norwood London.
Aldridge's original synchro partner
Gavin Brown was killed in a hit-and-run collision in Southampton on 28 April 2007.
During the
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
2008 Summer Olympics he took part in the Men's 10m Synchronised event with his new diving partner,
Tom Daley
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
, 12 years his junior. The pair finished in eighth position in the final in an event dominated by the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
who claimed the gold. He criticised the 14-year-old Daley during the competition, which subsequently resulted in Aldridge himself being criticised.
In February 2009, Daley's father, Rob, told BBC Devon, "If it was up to me, Tom would get a new partner". Shortly afterwards it was announced that Daley would be diving with
Max Brick
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) ...
.
In May 2009 Aldridge paid an £80 police fixed penalty for shoplifting at B&Q.
On 19 February 2010, Aldridge was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting wine and causing actual bodily harm to a male security guard at a
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
store in Croydon, Greater London. In August 2010 the case against him was dismissed when the CCTV was found and played in court.
In July 2009/2010/2011, Aldridge won the European Cliff Diving Championships for 3-year running, scoring 136.475 points, 38 points ahead of the next highest scoring dive. He also triumphed in 2011, beating Ukraine's Anatolii Shabotencko by over 60 points (372.325 vs 310.175).
He has had injury problems early in his career, notably
detached retina
Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blin ...
s from a bad dive which required laser surgery.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, Blake
1982 births
Living people
British male divers
Male high divers
Olympic divers for Great Britain
Divers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Divers from Greater London