Ginni van Katwijk

Last updated
Ginni van Katwijk
Personal information
Born (1985-03-05) March 5, 1985 (age 39) [1]
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sport
Sport High diving
University teamUniversity of Houston Cougars

Ginni van Katwijk (born 1985) is a Dutch high diver.

Contents

Career

Van Katwijk dove at the University of Houston. [2] She began diving as a performer on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines after graduation. [3]

She made her Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series debut in Saint-Raphaël, France in 2021, becoming the first diver from the Netherlands, [2] as well as the first married couple, with husband Matt Cooper, to compete at the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. [4] Van Katwijk placed fifth in high diving at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships. [5]

In 2023, Cooper and van Katwijk became the first married couple to compete at the World Aquatics High Diving World Cup. [2] She placed eleventh, with 232.70 points, at the World High Diving Championship in Fukuoka, Japan. [6] Van Katwijk placed fourteenth at the women's 20-metre at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha. [7] She placed second at the Northern Ireland event at the 2024 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, her first ever podium finish at a Red Bull event. [8]

Personal life

Van Katwijk is married to Matt Cooper (born March 4, 1989 (age 35) [9] ), an American high diver. They met while both were competing in university-level diving in Texas, with van Katwijk diving for the University of Houston, and Cooper for the University of Texas at Austin. Cooper proposed in 2016, and the couple married two years later. [3]

Related Research Articles

Laura Ann Wilkinson is an American diver, three-time Olympian, and Olympic gold medalist. She is the first woman to win the three major diving world titles. Wilkinson retired in 2008. After nine years of retirement, she returned to competition in 2017 and placed second at Nationals. She trained for her fourth Olympic Games (2021) at Texas A&M University's swimming and diving facilities but did not qualify.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Hunt</span> British diver (born 1984)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series</span> Annual international series of cliff diving events

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constantin Popovici</span> Romanian diver (born 1988)

Constantin Popovici is a Romanian platform diver. In 2019, he became the first Romanian to achieve a first-place finish at a stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. He is the 2022 European champion in the 27 metre high dive. He has won multiple medals as part of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series and he won the bronze medal in the 27 metre high dive event at the Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival in 2021. For the 10 metre platform event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, he placed twenty-third overall.

Alessandro De Rose is an Italian high diver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhiannan Iffland</span> Australian high diver (born 1991)

Rhiannan Iffland is an Australian high diver. She is a seven-time consecutive Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion. She won her first championship in 2016 as a wildcard entrant in her debut year, the first-ever rookie to do so.

Jessica Macaulay is a British and Canadian high diver. She placed second in the women's competition at two Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series and has won two bronze medals in high diving at the World Aquatics Championships.

Iris Schmidbauer is a German high diver. She represented Germany at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary and at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. In 2019, she finished in 8th place and in 2017, she finished in 10th place.

Xantheia Pennisi is an Australian high diver. She represented Australia at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, and she finished in sixth place in the women's high diving event. In 2019, she finished in ninth place in the 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. She also competed in the 2023 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

Lysanne Richard is a Canadian high diver and acrobat. She represented Canada at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia and she finished in 5th place in the women's high diving event. She was not able to represent Canada at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships as she had to withdraw from the competition after sustaining a neck injury.

Genevieve Bradley is an American high diver. She represented the United States at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. She competed in the women's high diving event and she finished in 4th place.

Aidan Heslop 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.

Cătălin-Petru Preda 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 2022 European Aquatics Championships. He formerly served as a judge on reality television show Splash! Vedete la Apă.

Molly Carlson is a Canadian high diver and social media personality. She is a member of Canada's senior national high diving team and placed second at the 2022 and 2023 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. Carlson uploads videos of herself diving on TikTok and YouTube.

Simone Leathead is a Canadian high diver. She placed fourth in high diving at the 2023 World Aquatics Championship.

Eleanor Townsend Smart, also known as Ellie Smart, is an American high diver. She placed third at the 2022 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

Kaylea Arnett is an American Chickasaw diver. She has competed in synchronized diving, individual platform and springboard diving, and high diving. Arnett has also performed with Cirque du Soleil.

Meili Carpenter is an American high diver and former 1- and 3-meter diver for the Buffalo Bulls.

Helena Merten is an Australian high diver and acrobatic performer. She placed second at the 2017 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series and won a silver medal in women's 20m at the FINA High Diving World Cup 2016.

The 2024 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series is an ongoing season of the Red Bull-sponsored international cliff diving series. It is the 16th edition of this event. The series began on 26 May in Athens, Greece, with the final event being held on 10 November 2024 in Sydney, Australia.

References

  1. "Ginni van Katwijk". Red Bull. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  2. 1 2 3 Eggert, Gregory (2023-05-27). "Cruise ship performers husband and wife duo competing at the High Diving World Cup". World Aquatics. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  3. 1 2 Wade, Stephen (2023-07-24). "Adrenaline isn't the only lure for professional high divers at the world titles". AP News. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  4. Magill, Chris (2021-06-12). "Cliff diving couple make World Series history". Red Bull. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  5. Weber, Natasja (2023-07-23). "Blauwe voeten en stijve kuiten horen erbij voor Ginni van Katwijk na een sprong van 20 meter". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  6. "WK: Elfde plaats highdiver Ginni van Katwijk". KNZB (in Dutch). 2023-07-26. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  7. "Van Katwijk sluit WK high diving af als dertiende". nos.nl (in Dutch). 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  8. "Aussie cliff diver Iffland nails Northern Ireland win". Blue Mountains Gazette. 2024-07-20. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  9. "Matt Cooper". 2011-12 Men's Swimming and Diving Roster. The University of Texas at Austin Athletics. 2012. Retrieved 2024-08-27.