Chris Mears (diver)

1.1. Childhood and education

Mears was born on 7 February 1993, to Paul and Lorraine Mears. Tragically, his biological mother passed away from breast cancer when he was three years old. His father later remarried Katy. He has an older sister named Natalie and a younger brother named Charlie.

He received his education at The Willink School, a co-educational state comprehensive school located in the village of Burghfield in Berkshire. From a young age, Mears began attending diving classes at his local club in Reading, the Reading Albatross Diving Club. He later moved to the Southampton Diving Club, where he started competing in junior events. His early competitive success included winning the 1 metre springboard and high diving events at the British Elite Juniors in 2008. He also secured three individual medals at the European Junior Championships. Under the guidance of his coach, Lindsey Fraser, he transferred to Southampton's high performance centre, where he trained alongside experienced divers like Peter Waterfield. In 2008, Mears also began competing in synchronised diving with Blake Aldridge and placed seventh at the World Junior Championships, which served as a selection event for the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.

1.2. Near-death experience (spleen rupture)

In January 2009, at the age of fifteen, Mears suffered a life-threatening ruptured spleen while training in Sydney for the Youth Olympic Festival. He had been unknowingly suffering from glandular fever, which did not display typical symptoms. The swelling caused by the illness compressed his internal organs, and the intense impact of his dives further aggravated the condition, leading to the rupture of his spleen.

Upon admission to the hospital, Mears had lost approximately 2 L of blood, and doctors gave him only a 5% chance of survival, stating that he would likely never dive again. For several days, his life was maintained through medical intervention, and his platelet count plummeted to a critically low level of 20,000 per microliter. After being discharged, Mears remained in Australia until he was fit to fly. However, one morning, his family found him on the floor, experiencing a seizure. Mears endured a severe 7-hour seizure, which resulted in a three-day coma. Such an extensive seizure is typically expected to cause irreversible brain damage and physical disabilities. He later recounted a conversation with a doctor who told him it was Thursday, while he still believed it was Monday, illustrating the impact on his cognitive function during recovery. Despite the grim prognosis, Mears slowly re-introduced himself to diving, making a remarkable return to competition just eighteen months later at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India. The ordeal left him with a 12 in ^{(30 cm)} scar across his abdomen and a reduced range of movement in that area.

2.1. Early competitive years (2010-2013)

The year 2010 marked Mears' extraordinary return to the sport following his severe illness. On the national stage, he partnered with Nicholas Robinson-Baker in synchronised diving, securing gold medals at both the National Cup and the National Championships. Remarkably, the pair finished fourth at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, only eighteen months after Mears' spleen rupture.

In 2011, Mears continued his success, winning gold at the National Cup and a bronze medal at the British Championships. He and Robinson-Baker achieved a silver medal during the 2011 FINA Diving World Series. He was also placed fourth at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. In 2012, he claimed silver at the National Cup and bronze at the British Championships. On 11 June 2012, the British Olympic Association officially announced Mears' selection to represent Great Britain in both the 3 metre springboard and 3 metre synchronised events at the London 2012 Olympic Games. In a gesture recognizing his dedication during Mears' illness, his father, Paul, was nominated by the British Olympic Association to carry the Olympic Torch during the 70-day relay. At the London Olympics, Mears reached the final of the men's 3 metre springboard, finishing ninth. His final dive received a score of 100.70 points, which was the highest-scored dive of the entire competition. Mears and Robinson-Baker placed fifth in the synchronised event. Mears also competed at the 2012 European Aquatics Championships, where he finished eighth in the 3 metre springboard and fifth in the synchronised event.

In 2013, Mears continued to compete in the World Series circuit with Robinson-Baker in the synchronised event, while also participating in individual competitions. The pair earned bronze medals in Edinburgh and two further bronzes in Guadalajara, Mexico. Mears also achieved his best individual World Series performance to date in Guadalajara, finishing fourth in the individual 3 metre event with a total score of 455.50 points. By the end of 2013, Mears and Robinson-Baker were ranked as the seventh-best synchronised diving pair in the world by FINA. Later in 2013, Mears formed a new partnership with Jack Laugher in the 3 metre springboard, although they did not qualify for the final of the World Championships in Barcelona.

2.2. Partnership with Jack Laugher and major successes (2014-2018)

The period from 2014 to 2018 marked the most successful phase of Mears' diving career, largely defined by his highly effective partnership with Jack Laugher.

At the beginning of 2014, Mears spent time recovering from an ankle injury at the Team GB Intensive Rehabilitation Facility at Bisham Abbey, which led him to miss the 2014 National Cup in Southend and the initial two legs of the 2014 FINA Diving World Series held in China and Dubai. To facilitate their training, Mears relocated to Leeds to train alongside Laugher at the John Charles Centre for Sport, one of the UK's high-performance diving centres for 3 metre competitors on the British Diving Team. The duo first competed together in April 2014 at the World Diving Series in London, where they finished fourth. In May 2014, Mears and Laugher secured a bronze medal in the 3 metre synchronised event at the FINA Diving World Series in Moscow.

Their partnership achieved its first major gold medal at the 3 metre synchronised springboard event during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In 2015, they continued their success by winning a bronze medal at the World Championships in Kazan.

In May 2016, Mears and Laugher won gold in the 3 metre synchronised springboard at the European Championships held in London. This victory set the stage for their most significant achievement. Mears and Laugher were selected to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics. They clinched the gold medal in the Men's 3 metre Synchronised Diving event, accumulating a total of 454.32 points, surpassing the American pair Sam Dorman and Michael Hixon (450.21) and the Chinese pair Qin Kai and Cao Yuan (443.70). This historic win marked the first-ever Olympic gold medal for Britain in diving.

In 2017, Laugher and Mears earned three silver medals in the 3 metre synchronised event across four events of the Fina/NVC Diving World Series, with two silvers in China and one in Russia. However, they finished out of the medal positions, placing fourth at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships.

Their success continued into 2018. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games held on the Gold Coast in Australia, Mears and Laugher successfully defended their title, securing another gold medal in the men's 3 metre synchronised springboard event. They then won a silver medal in the 3 metre synchronised springboard at the 2018 FINA Diving World Cup held in Wuhan. Later that year, at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the pair added another silver medal in the 3 metre synchronised event. Following these achievements, Mears decided to take a year out from competition starting in October 2018, to dedicate more focus to his burgeoning music career and other personal projects.

2.3. Retirement from diving

On 6 August 2019, Chris Mears officially announced his retirement from competitive diving via Instagram. His decision was driven by a desire to fully commit to and pursue his music career.