Chris Mears

Christopher James Mears was born on February 7, 1993, in Reading, Berkshire. His early life involved diving classes at the Reading Albatross Diving Club, later moving to Southampton Diving Club, where he began competing in junior events. In January 2009, at age fifteen, Mears faced a life-threatening ruptured spleen during training in Sydney for the Youth Olympic Festival. Suffering from glandular fever, the aggravated condition led to significant blood loss and a critical medical state, with doctors giving him only a 5% chance of survival. Despite being told a return to diving was unlikely, Mears endured a seven-hour seizure and a three-day coma, eventually making a gradual recovery.

Demonstrating significant resilience, Mears returned to competitive diving, partnering with Nicholas Robinson-Baker to win gold at the National Cup and National Championships in 2010. He competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, placing 4th. In 2012, he represented Great Britain at the London Olympics, placing 9th in the individual 3m springboard and 5th in the synchronized event with Robinson-Baker. His partnership with Jack Laugher, formed in 2013, marked a turning point. They secured their first gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 3m synchronized springboard and followed this with a bronze at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan.

The pinnacle of Mears’ diving career came in 2016 at the Rio Olympics, where he and Jack Laugher made history by winning Great Britain’s first Olympic gold medal in diving in the Men’s 3m Synchronised Diving event. They continued their success by defending their Commonwealth Games title in 2018 and earning silver medals at the 2018 FINA Diving World Cup and the 2018 European Championships. In October 2018, Mears took a break from competition, and on August 6, 2019, he officially announced his retirement from diving to focus on his music career. During his recovery from illness, Mears developed a passion for music production, learning guitar and creating electronic dance music and house music, releasing his single “Mexico” with Universal Music in 2015 and performing at the Woodstoke Festival.