Aidan Heslop (born 18 April 2002) is a British diver and high diver who competes internationally representing Wales and Great Britain. In 2024 he won gold in the men's high dive at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships. At the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

he competed representing Wales, finishing 6th in the 10 metre platform and 12th in the 3 metre springboard. In 2021, he won the gold medal in the 27 metre high dive at the Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival representing Great Britain, performing the highest difficulty dive, a 6.2 degree of difficulty, in history. He placed sixth in the inaugural men's high dive at the

2022 European Aquatics Championships The 2022 European Aquatics Championships took place in Rome, Italy, from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event exactly coincided with, but was not officially part of, the 2022 European Championships. This diverged from the joined format of the 2018 Eu ...

Background

Heslop was born 18 April 2002 in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

."Aidan Heslop: Results"
''

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

''. Retrieved 31 January 2022."Diving , Athlete Profile: Aidan Heslop"
'' Gold Coast 2018''. Retrieved 31 January 2022. He started competitive cliff diving when he was 12 years old.Law, James (27 July 2017)
"Aidan Heslop: Cliff diving champion, 15, targets Commonwealth Games spot"
''

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

''. Retrieved 31 January 2022. He is eligible to compete representing

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

as his mother is from there. For his pool training, Heslop trains in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

."Meet 15-year-old Aidan Heslop, Wales' Commonwealth Games cliff diver"
''

''. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2022. Heslop has listed

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

and

BMX racing BMX racing is a type of bicycle racing which features BMX riders sharing a short single-lap circuit or point-to-point course, with multiple banked corners, jumps and rollers. The format of BMX was derived from motocross racing, and sanctione ...

as two of his alternate sports had he not chosen to pursue high diving.Koos, Torin (3 February 2022)
"What your favorite swimmers and divers have been up to this offseason"
''

''. Retrieved 3 February 2022. He and his diving partner, Ruby Thorne, made their debut as partners in international championships competition at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

with both representing Team Wales, after competing together at the British National Diving Cup on 11 February 2022.

Career

2017

At the 2017 FINA Diving Grand Prix stop in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, Heslop won the bronze medal in the 10 metre platform with a score of 391.15 points."FINA Diving Grand Prix 2017 - Leg 4: Results Men 10m Platform"
''

''. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2022.

2018 Commonwealth Games

When he was 15 years old, Heslop became the first diver to represent Wales at a

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

in 20 years at the

in Gold Coast,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in April, with the previous diver being Robert Morgan at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

. In the preliminary round of the 3 metre springboard on 12 April, Heslop qualified for the final ranking 11th with a score of 352.80.

Longines Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Agassiz family, Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss The Swatch G ...

(12 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018: Diving Men's 3m Springboard Preliminary Results"
'' Gold Coast 2018''. Retrieved 31 January 2022. For the final later in the day, he scored a 285.15 and placed 12th overall.

(12 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018: Diving Men's 3m Springboard Final Results"
'' Gold Coast 2018''. Retrieved 31 January 2022. On 14 April, Heslop scored 385.10 points in the preliminary round of the 10 metre platform and advanced to the final ranked fifth.

(14 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018: Diving Men's 10m Platform Preliminary Results"
'' Gold Coast 2018''. Retrieved 31 January 2022. In the final later the same day, Heslop placed sixth with a score of 395.95 points.

(14 April 2018)
"Gold Coast 2018: Diving Men's 10m Platform Final Results"
'' Gold Coast 2018''. Retrieved 31 January 2022.

2018 Grand Prix and World Series

Heslop won the bronze medal in the 10 metre platform event behind Xiaohu Tai and Bowen Huang, both of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

at the 2018 FINA Diving Grand Prix stop in Madrid, Spain in July with a score of 390.60 points."FINA Diving Grand Prix 2018 - Leg 4: Results Men 10m Platform"
''

''. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2022. In September 2018, Heslop became the youngest diver to compete in a

Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, established in 2009 and created by Red Bull GmbH, Red Bull, is an annual international series of Diving (sport), cliff diving events in which a limited number of competitors determine the Cliff Diving ...

when he was 16 years old and competed at the World Series stop in Polignano a Mare,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

.Magill, Chris (11 September 2021)
"The cliff diving prodigy is taking on the world's best in Ireland"
''

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

''. Retrieved 31 January 2022.

2019 Cliff Diving World Series

At the 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series stop in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, Spain in September, Heslop became the youngest diver to win a medal of any kind at a Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, winning the bronze medal with a score of 384.60 points."Aidan Heslop becomes youngest ever diver on the podium at a Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series event"
'' Swim Wales''. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2022.

2020–2021

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and before returning to competitions, Heslop's training pool was closed for a few months due to the pandemic, and for repairs, and he underwent wrist surgery."Aidan Heslop wins first FINA high diving title to secure World Championships spot"
''

''. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022. As part of the 2021 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series stop in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, Heslop earned two 10 scores from judges for his final round dive.Heaney, Steven (12 September 2021)
"Multiple new records set at cliff diving World Series in Mayo"
''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Republic of Ireland, Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork (city), Cork, though it is ...

''. Retrieved 31 January 2022.

Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival

Heslop won the gold medal in the 27 metre high dive event with a score of 436.90 points at the FINA High Diving Qualifier held as part of the Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

in December, earning first-place less than five points ahead of silver medalist

Cătălin Preda Cătălin-Petru Preda (born 29 June 1991) is a Romanian diver and high diver. He was the first man to win a silver medal in a high diving event at a LEN European Aquatics Championships, winning the silver medal in the 27-metre high dive at the ...

and bronze medalist Constantin Popovici, both of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

(18 December 2021)
"FINA High Diving Qualifier 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's High Dive Round 4 Detailed Results"
''

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''Louis Brandt et Fils'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

''. Retrieved 31 January 2022."Aidan Heslop claims title at Fina High Diving Qualifier in Abu Dhabi"
''

Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Thro ...

''. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022. His final dive was a 6.2 degree of difficulty, which was the highest difficulty dive executed in history and earned him a qualification for the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. These championships included five disciplines, with high diving not staged for this edi ...

."Aidan Heslop claims title at the FINA High Diving Qualifier 2021 in Abu Dhabi"
''

''. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2022."High Diver Heslop Strikes Gold For World Champs Qualification"
''

''. Retrieved 31 January 2022. His execution of the 6.2 difficulty dive earned him the number four top moment from the 2021 World Short Course Swimming Championships and the Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival by

.Koos, Torin (23 December 2021)
"Top 5 - The moments we'll remember from the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m)"
''

''. Retrieved 31 January 2022.

2022

Training in early 2022, Heslop focused his efforts on the 2022 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, 2022 World Aquatics Championships, and representing Wales at the

."Heslop produces world's hardest dive to claim stunning victory in Abu Dhabi"
''Plymouth Sports Gazette''. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022. In January,

announced the World Aquatics Championships were delayed until 2023."FINA postpones Fukuoka-hosted 2022 World Championships because of COVID-19"
''

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

''. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022. The next month, February, FINA announced a new 2022 World Aquatics Championships that would not include high diving.

(6 February 2022)
"Budapest awarded with extraordinary FINA World Championships!"
''

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

''. Retrieved 4 May 2022. The following week, on the first day of the 2022 British National Diving Cup, he placed third with diving partner Ruby Thorne in the 10 metre synchronized platform event with a score of 244.83 points."Live Updates From The British National Diving Cup 2022"
''

''. Retrieved 4 May 2022. Later in the same month, he topped platform scoring over the first two days of the British Elite Junior Diving Championships."Brilliant Diving On Show At Elite Juniors"
''

British Swimming Aquatics GB (formerly British Swimming) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of swimming (sport), swimming, water polo, artistic swimming, Diving (sport), diving and open water swimming, open water in Great Britain.Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, established in 2009 and created by Red Bull GmbH, Red Bull, is an annual international series of Diving (sport), cliff diving events in which a limited number of competitors determine the Cliff Diving ...

, held on 4 June in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Heslop won the title across all rounds of competition with a score of 462.50 points, which was over 30 points ahead of the next-highest scoring competitor, and marked his first time winning a gold medal at a Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series event.Thompson, Alexander (4 June 2022)
"Elite athletes dive to new heights in Cliff Diving World Series at Boston's ICA"
''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''. Retrieved 5 June 2022.Herrán, Alfonso (5 June 2022)
"Estreno en Boston con nuevas caras en lo más alto"
(in Spanish). ''

Diario AS ''Diario AS'' () (sometime stylized as ''AS'' or ''As''; ) is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on association football. Profile ''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns ''El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The ...

''. Retrieved 5 June 2022.

2022 Commonwealth Games

Heslop was named to the

roster for the

alongside his partner, Ruby Thorne, in the mixed 10 metre synchronized event as well as individually in the 10 metre platform event.James, Ben (8 June 2022)
"The full list of every Welsh athlete competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham"
''

Wales Online Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. History The ''Western Mail'' was fou ...

''. Retrieved 8 June 2022. Day four of diving competition, he ranked ninth in the preliminaries of the 10 metre platform, qualifying for the final with a score of 341.55 points."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Men's 10m Platform Preliminary Results"
''

''. 7 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022. In the final, he improved his score to 408.00 points and placed eighth."Commonwealth Games: Diving - Men's 10m Platform results"
''

''. 7 August 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022. In the final of the mixed 10 metre synchronized platform the following day, he and his partner Ruby Thorne made their debut at an international championships, placing eighth with a score of 284.28 points."Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Mixed Synchronised 10m Platform Final Results"
''

''. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.

2022 European Aquatics Championships

For the

, held in August in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Heslop entered to compete in the 27 metre high diving event. LEN (10 August 2022)
"European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: High Diving Entry List"
''Microplus''. Retrieved 10 August 2022. For the first dive of the competition, he tied

Oleksiy Pryhorov Oleksiy Pryhorov (; born June 25, 1987, in Kharkiv) is a Ukrainian diver who won the bronze medal in the 3 m spring synchro along with Illya Kvasha in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The duo won gold at the same event during the 2010 Euro ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

for sixth-rank with a score of 72.80 points for a 2.8 degree of difficulty dive. LEN (18 August 2022)
"European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results After Dive 1 Men's High Diving"
''Microplus''. Retrieved 18 August 2022.Ziglio, Andrea (18 August 2022)
"Tuffi grandi altezze, Europei 2022: Andrea Barnaba e Alessandro De Rose terzi dopo il primo obbligatorio"
(in Italian). ''OA Sport''. Retrieved 18 August 2022. The following day, after the second of four total dives, he ranked second with a score of 213.20 points.Tiseo, Giandomenico (19 August 2022)
"LIVE Tuffi grandi altezze, Europei 2022 in DIRETTA: Elisa Cosetti di BRONZO! Sesto Alessandro De Rose dopo due rotazioni"
(in Italian). ''OA Sport''. Retrieved 19 August 2022. He culminated with a score of 392.90 points for the four dives, finishing 62.80 points behind gold medalist Constantin Popovici of Romania to place sixth. LEN (20 August 2022)
"European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results Men's High Diving Final"
''Microplus''. Retrieved 20 August 2022.Tiseo, Giandomenico (20 August 2022)
"LIVE Tuffi grandi altezze, Europei 2022 in DIRETTA: rimonta di bronzo per Alessandro De Rose! Trionfa Popovici"
(in Italian). ''OA Sport''. Retrieved 20 August 2022. At the 2022

stop held the following month in Sisikon,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, Heslop won the gold medal and moved up in the overall 2022 World Series rankings to second."Así se consigue una grabación perfecta en la locura de saltar desde acantilados"
(in Spanish). '' Marca''. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022. At the next stop, in Polignano a Mare, Italy, on 18 September, he retained his overall second rank and won the silver medal for the stop with a score of 435.80 points."Il Mare Increspato E Le Raffiche Di Vento Non Fermano Lo Spettacolo Pugliese Della Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series"
(in Italian). ''Il Nautilus''. 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022. He won the silver medal again approximately one month later at the stop held in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

."Diver Iffland soars to success over Sydney"
'' Port Lincoln Times''. 15 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022. 2023 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series At during the 2023

Cliff Diving World Series located in Polignano a Mare, Italy, Heslop won 2nd place over all.

International championships

Adventures

In December 2021, Heslop went skydiving over Jumeirah Beach in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

References

External links

*
Athlete profile of Aiden Heslop
on Redbull.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Heslop, Aidan 2002 births Living people British male divers Welsh divers Male high divers Commonwealth Games competitors for Wales Divers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Divers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Chelmsford World Aquatics Championships medalists in high diving 21st-century British sportsmen

Background

Career

2017

2018 Commonwealth Games

2018 Grand Prix and World Series

2019 Cliff Diving World Series

2020–2021

Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival

2022

2022 Commonwealth Games

2022 European Aquatics Championships

International championships

Adventures

See also

References

External links