| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Canadian | |||||||||||||
| Born | 13 February 1949 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada | |||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Diving | |||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ron Friesen (born 13 February 1949) is a Canadian diver. He was a bronze medal winner during the 1970 British Commonwealth Games at Edinburgh, Scotland in the 3 metre springboard event. [1] He also competed in two events at the 1972 Summer Olympics. [2]
Friesen was the second of six boys born to Florence Friesen. Prior to diving, he participated in other sports such as gymnastics, judo and swimming and was described as a "natural athlete" who would always be involved with sports being offered at his local youth centre. [3]
Friesen began his diving career competitively in 1967 when he was part of the University of Saskatchewan diving team. [4] While a student of the university, he was named the Outstanding College Diver in Canada in 1969 after topping "a field of intercollegiate talent that stretched from coast to coast" in the 1 metre and 3 metre springboard diving events. He additionally was named to the Canadian college swimming and diving team. [5] He made the national team after just one year of diving, which he described as being unusual but attributed this to his previous experience in gymnastics which gave him leg and arm strength. [3]
At the 1971 Canadian championships, he won three gold medals in each of the diving events, the 1m, 2m and 10-metre respectively before representing Canada at the 1972 Summer Olympics. [4] In 1972, he won an "athlete of the year" award at the Kinsmen Sport Celebrity Dinner, where he was described as "the great diver" and won over eight other nominees. At this time, he was also coaching diving at a beginner level at Goldfins Swimming and Diving Club. [6]
Friesen moved to British Columbia in 1973 to become a pool manager in Port Alberni and remained there. He later changed vocation and studied a law degree at the University of Victoria. He expressed that it took years before he could appreciate his accomplishment in participating in the Olympic games, though noted that he was not particularly happy with his performances. [3]
In 1994, Friesen was the head of diving for the Canadian team at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia. By 2003, he was a lawyer and married to Christine Looke, a fellow diver and close friend of Beverly Boys. They first met at the 1971 Pan American Games and were later reintroduced to each other by mutual friends. His daughter Emma followed in his footsteps and took up diving [7] and he has two other children, Dieter and Allegra. [3]
Alexandre Despatie is a Canadian diver and broadcaster from Laval, Quebec. He was the world champion at the 1 and 3 m springboards from 2005 to 2007 and is the first, and so far only, diver to have been world champion in all three individual categories. He is also a 37-time Canadian senior diving champion and nine-time junior champion, and the most decorated male diver in Canadian history, winning two Olympic silver medals and reaching eight podiums at the world championships, including three gold medals. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Gao Min is a female Chinese diver who won gold medals in the springboard event of the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games.
Sir Peter Heatly, was a Scottish diver and Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation. He competed in the 3 m springboard and 10 m platform at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, at the 1950, 1954 and 1958 British Empire Games, and at the 1954 European Championships. He won five British Empire Games medals and one European medal, while his best Olympic result was fifth place in 1948. Heatly was knighted in 1990, before being inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, the Scottish Swimming Hall of Fame in 2010 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2016.
Barbara Ellen Talmage is an American diver. She won a gold medal in springboard diving at the 1963 Pan American Games in São Paulo and competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics and the 1968 Summer Olympics.
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.
Donald Douglas Wagstaff, MBE is an Australian former diver who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics, in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and in the 1976 Summer Olympics. He also participated in four Commonwealth Games events, from the 1966 Games in Kingston up to the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton.
Christopher Snode is a former World Cup Champion diver who represented Great Britain and England.
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.
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.
Yona Roshen Knight-Wisdom is a Jamaican diver, who competed at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics, and came second in the 1 metre springboard event at the 2019 Pan American Games. He was the first Jamaican male diver at an Olympic Games.
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 double gold medalist at both the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games, and a three-time national champion.
James Philip Heatly is a British diver.
Phyllis Ann Long, is a female former diver who competed for England.
Alison Drake is a female former diver who competed for England. She competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Judy Stewart is a Canadian diver. She competed in two events at the 1964 Summer Olympics. She was coached by champion diver Don Webb and won medals in the 1963 Pan American Games and the 1965 British Swimming Championships. Stewart was a former gymnast and married golfer Phil Brownlee in January 1966 and later retired from competitive diving that year.
Kenneth Grove is a former Australian competitive diver. In 1970 and 1971, he broke world records on the springboard, performing 100 and 143 different dives in each year respectively. He competed in two events at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Grove had become disillusioned by sport in Australia, citing lack of financial support and facilities compared to what other countries offered their athletes. Following an injury sustained during the trials for the 1974 British Commonwealth Games and subsequently being overlooked for the team, he left Australia at the end of 1973 and moved to Austria with his fiancee, securing a scholarship at the Vienna Sports College with a $136 monthly allowance.
Kathleen Rollo is a Canadian diver. She competed in the women's 10 metre platform event at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Eniko Kiefer is a Canadian diver. She competed in the women's 3 metre springboard event at the 1976 Summer Olympics. During the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, she won a bronze medal in the 3 meter women's springboard event.
The Saskatchewan Summer Games and Saskatchewan Winter Games are multi-sport events held in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The governing body for the Saskatchewan Games is the Saskatchewan Games Council, a non-profit organization who has held responsibility for organizing the Games since 2006.
Jennifer McArton is a former Canadian diver. During the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, she won a silver medal in the women's 10 metre highboard event.
