| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 August 1982 Lambeth, London, UK |
| Height | 167 cm (5 ft 6 in) |
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Great Britain |
| Sport | Synchronized diving |
| Event(s) | 10m, 10m synchro |
| Club | Crystal Palace Diving Club |
| Former partner | Tom Daley |
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 where he has won 6 podium finishes.
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. [1]
During the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics he took part in the Men's 10m Synchronised event [2] [3] with his new diving partner, Tom Daley, 12 years his junior. The pair finished in eighth position in the final in an event dominated by the Chinese 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". [4] Shortly afterwards it was announced that Daley would be diving with Max Brick.
In May 2009 Aldridge paid an £80 police fixed penalty for shoplifting at B&Q. [5]
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 store in Croydon, Greater London. In August 2010 the case against him was dismissed when the CCTV was found and played in court. [6]
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. [7] He also triumphed in 2011, beating Ukraine's Anatolii Shabotencko by over 60 points (372.325 vs 310.175). [8]
He has had injury problems early in his career, notably detached retinas from a bad dive which required laser surgery. [9]
Leon Taylor is a former British competitive diver. During his diving career he won medals at all major international events including a silver at the Athens Olympics. Following his retirement from competition, Taylor transitioned to a portfolio of projects. He now speaks about mental wellness, supports the SportsAid charity, teaches yoga and mental wellness, works for an executive performance business and commentates for the BBC.
Peter Graham Waterfield is a British former diver and Olympic silver medalist.
Cliff diving is the leaping off a cliff edge, usually into a body of water, as a form of sport. It may be done as part of the sport of coastal exploration or as a standalone activity. Particular variations on cliff jumping may specify the angle of entry into the water or the inclusion or exclusion of human-made platforms or other equipment. Cliff diving and its close relative tombstoning are specific to water landing. Cliff jumping with the use of a parachute would typically be classified as a form of BASE jumping.
Thomas Robert Daley is an English retired diver, YouTuber and television personality. He is an Olympic champion in the men's synchronised 10-metre platform event at the 2020 Olympics and double world champion in the FINA 10-metre platform event, winning in 2009 at the age of fifteen, and again in 2017. He is an Olympic bronze medallist in the 2012 platform event, the 2016 synchronised event, and the 2020 platform event, He won the silver medal in the men's synchronised 10-metre at the 2024 Olympics, making him the first British diver to win 5 Olympic medals. Daley also competes in team events, winning the inaugural mixed team World title in 2015, and repeating the win in 2024, his fourth World title in all. He is an Olympic champion, four-time World Champion, a two-time junior World Champion, a five-time European champion and four-time Commonwealth champion.
Matthew John Mitcham OAM is an Australian retired diver and trampolinist. As a diver, he was the 2008 Olympic champion in the 10m platform, and he is the 2nd highest single-dive score in Olympic history. This made him the first openly gay athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. He is also the first Australian male to win an Olympic gold medal in diving since Dick Eve at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
David Alasdair Boudia is an American diver. He won the gold medal in the 10 metre platform diving competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal in the same event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also won a bronze medal with Nick McCrory in the men's synchronized 10 metre platform at the 2012 Summer Olympics and a silver medal in the same event with Steele Johnson at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Benjamin William Oliver Swain is a British synchronized diver. During the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, Swain took part in the Men's 3m Springboard Synchronized event with Nicholas Robinson-Baker. Swain and Robinson-Baker were placed seventh at 2008 Summer Olympics in the synchronised 3m springboard event. He won gold in 2009 in the 3m synchro with Robinson-Baker in the World Series leg in Mexico. He suffered an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in December 2009 and had an ACL reconstruction in February 2010, ending his season, after which Robinson-Baker partnered with Chris Mears that year. Swain returned to diving in 2011 but did not make the Olympic team in 2012.
Tonia Couch is a former British Olympic diver.
Max Brick is an English diver who represents Southampton Diving Academy and specialises in the 10 metre platform event.
Gavin Brown, sometimes listed as Gavin Hustler-Brown, was a diver from Cottingley, Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The former diving partner of Olympian Blake Aldridge, Brown died at the age of 22 following a hit-and-run incident.
Gary Hunt, also known as Roger Gary Hunt, is an elite sports diver, specialising in cliff or high diving, and is the 2019 World champion in high diving at World Aquatics Championships event, where he holds the championship record. With a silver in the 2013 edition of the event, Hunt is the most successful male diver in the short history of the FINA recognised event.
Jack David Laugher is a British diver competing for Great Britain and England. A specialist on springboard, he competes in individual springboard events, and in synchronised events with Chris Mears, Daniel Goodfellow and Anthony Harding. Laugher and Mears became Britain's first diving Olympic champions by winning a gold medal in the men's synchronised 3m springboard event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, an achievement many had expected double world 10m champion Tom Daley would achieve first. A week later, Laugher won a silver in the men's individual 3m springboard at the same Games, becoming the first British diver to win multiple Olympic diving medals at the same Games.
Christopher James Mears is a British diver and DJ/Producer from Burghfield Common, near Reading, Berkshire. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the synchronised 3m springboard event with Jack Laugher and won gold, the first Olympic gold medal for Britain in diving.
Daniel Goodfellow is a British diver, active since 2011, and in the senior ranks from 2013.
Chen Aisen is a Chinese diver. He is a double gold medal winner at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He won gold in the men's synchronised 10m platform competition with diving partner Lin Yue, as well as gold in the men's individual 10m platform. He has also won golds in the World Championships partnered with Yang Hao and Cao Yuan.
Matthew Lee is a British diver and Olympic gold medallist. Adept in both individual and synchronised diving, and across both 3-metre springboard and platform, Lee won the gold medal in 10-metre platform at the 2015 European Games, the mixed 10-metre synchronised platform at the 2017 European Diving Championships and has twice been European junior champion on the 3-metre springboard. At world level, Lee won the silver medal in the mixed 10-metre synchronised platform event at the 2017 World Championships, and at the 2019 World Championships, Lee and Tom Daley won bronze in the 10 m synchro event, as well as gold in July 2021 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Grace Elizabeth Reid is a Scottish diver representing Scotland and Great Britain, and specialising in 1 metre and 3 metre springboard disciplines. She is a world championship silver medallist in the 1 metre springboard, twice a world medallist in the 3 metre mixed synchronised 3 metre springboard discipline, a double gold medallist at both the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games as well as a multiple minor medallist in both those events, the European Games and the FINA Diving World Cup. Domestically, Reid is a three-time national champion.
Lois Mae Toulson is a British diver. A specialist in the 10 metre platform, she won the gold medal at the inaugural European Games in 2015, and the senior European title in 2017. She competed in the women's synchronized ten metre platform event at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Tonia Couch and she won bronze at the 2024 Summer Olympics in same category with Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix. She won silver in mixed 10m platform synchro at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships with Matty Lee, and gold in the women's synchronized 10 metre platform at the 2018 European Aquatics Championships with Eden Cheng.
Noah Oliver Williams is an English elite competitive diver who represents Great Britain and England and specialises in the 10 metre platform and synchro platform events. Williams took the bronze medal in the 10 metre platform at the 2024 Summer Olympics, the third British diver to do so in that event. In the 10 metre synchronised event at the same Games, Williams won silver with partner Tom Daley.
Ross Haslam is a professional competitive British diver, representing Great Britain at numerous international events. He is the 2023 European Games gold medalist and 2023 European Diving champion on the 1 metre springboard, and silver medalist in the mixed synchronised 3 metre springboard at the same event. In 2024, he won the bronze medal in the 1 metre springboard at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
