Who is Chris Mears?
Chris Mears is a British Diver who won a gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics with diving partner, Jack Laugher.
When is his birthday?
February 7th 1993
What else do I need to know?
Back in January 2009, Chris suffered from a ruptured spleen whilst he was training in Sydney. He was originally suffering from Glandular Fever but wasn’t showing the normal systems so, he continued to dive. His organs were being squeezed and this was further aggravated by him diving. This caused his spleen to rupture. Chris then lost two litres of blood and the doctor gave him a 5% survival rate and he was told he would likely never dive again. He was kept alive with medical intervention for several days.
Chris and his family stayed in Australia until he was fit to fly again. When his parents came back to the hotel one day, he was having a seizure. He suffered a seven hour seizure which caused a three day coma. Despite being told he wouldn’t dive again, Chris made a slow introduction back into diving. He then competed eighteen months later in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Since his recovery, Chris hasn’t let his illness hold him back at all. In 2012, he took silver at the National Cup and bronze at British Championships. He also competed in the London 2012 Olympic games in the 3M Springboard and the 3M springboard Sychro. He then did the world circuit with partner, Robinson-Baker for both Sychro and individually. The pair won bronze in Edinburgh and bronze twice in Guadalajara. In 2013, he teamed up with Jack Laugher.
The pair first competed together in the World Diving Series in London in April 2014 and finished fourth. In May 2014, they won bronze in the 3m sychronised at the FINA Diving World Series in Moscow. They won their first gold medal on the 3m sychronised springboard at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In May 2016, Chris and Jack won the 3m sychronised springboard at the European Championships in London. The two of them then represented Great Britain in Rio 2016 Olympics and won gold; the first ever gold medal in British Diving.
Whilst in recovery from his illness, Chris actually took up music. He brought himself a guitar and started to learn how to play and brought a Mac to create his own music. He used his bedroom as a studio and began to produce Electronic Dance and House Music. After the 2012 Olympics, he signed Insanity Artists booking agency. His first big performance was at Woodstock Festival 2013. Since then, he has released demos on his soundcloud page.