Meet the British cliff diving star who leapt 21 meters into a Plymouth marina
Aidan Heslop thrives off adrenaline and uses it to power his exceptional cliff diving career.
At just 21 years of age, Heslop is a burgeoning star in one of the world’s most daring and thrilling sports. During the 2022 Red Bull Cliff Diving season, Heslop came out on top in events in Sisikon, Switzerland and Boston, USA while he reached the podium on several occasions en route to an overall second-place finish behind legendary cliff diver Gary Hunt.
Earlier this week, Heslop returned to his home town of Plymouth, where he grew up, to perform an extraordinary dive. Heslop leapt off the top of a grade I listed building into the historic Royal William Yard Marina, somersaulting through the air before perfectly entering the water to complete the 21-meter dive to preview this summer’s 2023 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.
“It’s really special to do a dive where I grew up,” Heslop exclusively told Mirror Sport. “This is where I started my diving and high diving career, so it’s important to me to kind of give back a little bit. If I can do that by diving, then perfect! I used to come down here and you can see how perfect the buildings are for high diving, so I’m super grateful for this opportunity.”
Naturally, the dive attempt had added obstacles. Heslop had to leap from a balcony and clear a gap to find the water, but he passed with flying colours - and praised the safety measures implemented around such an extreme sport.
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“Every stop we go to tends to have something a little bit different, some kind of external factor which can vary the way you do your dive,” Heslop added. “This one, the takeoff spot is just from a bit of the wall on a guy’s balcony - and there is a bit of a gap to clear! To be honest, this really isn’t that sketchy of a spot.
Aidan Heslop returned to Plymouth to complete the daring dive into the Royal William Yard Marina (Red Bull Content Pool)“There’s definitely more dangerous stuff that I’ve done - this one’s pretty safe. We did a height and depth check, plus we’ve got scuba divers in the water and everything we need to make this as safe as possible. The mental part leading up to the dive isn’t too bad - it’s more thinking about the temperature of the water and trying to focus when it’s so cold!”
Heslop moved to Montreal in November last year in order to train each and every day with elite high diving facilities at the Olympic Stadium. Heslop - who represented Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia - admitted his route to cliff diving was rather untravelled.
“It’s not really the general path to go from diving to cliff diving; once you start you maybe do shows before getting into high diving but I started my high diving career very young and did both simultaneously,” the 21-year-old said.
SISIKON, SWITZERLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) In this handout image provided by Red Bull, Aidan Heslop of the UK dives from the 27 metre platform during the final competition day of the sixth stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series on September 11, 2022 at Sisikon, Switzerland. (Photo by Romina Amato/Red Bull via Getty Images)“For me, the adrenaline is definitely a huge part of it - but that’s not the same for everybody. There are a lot of high divers in the world and everyone gets a different thing out of it.”
Heslop is an adventurous spirit; he enjoys rock climbing and parkour when he’s not on the platform or on the edge of a cliff. The Brit has a penchant for extreme sports, and believes he would be involved in a high-octane discipline if it wasn’t for his commitment to diving.
“I used to spend time on my BMX, scooter, skateboard - anything,” Heslop suggested. “When I started to actually get to a decent level in diving and high diving, it was more of a risk to be doing these things because I didn’t want jeopardise what I have. I’m sure if I wasn’t in high diving, I’d be pursuing one of them at the moment.”
Aidan Heslop will attempt to win the 2023 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series this summer (Red Bull Content Pool)Heslop believes diving is an enjoyable watch for anyone as the sport is ultimately ‘a bunch of flips’. He will compete in the 2023 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, with the first leg taking place in Boston in June.
“One of the coolest things that I get to do with this job is travel the world and see some pretty insane places,” he added. “This last year, we were diving in front of the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House. I think the spot that I'm most excited for is Japan. We’re diving into a gorge, there’s a waterfall and we may be diving out of a tree for one of the rounds, and this place in Japanese culture is known as the ‘Birthplace of the Planet’; it’s just incredible.”
Heslop will look to go one better and come out on top in this year’s series - but what of the future of cliff diving?
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“For us right now, we’re trying to get high diving into the Olympics but a lot of countries struggle with support from their federations because it’s not an Olympic sport,” Heslop declared. “The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series is insane and takes us to these incredible places already, so you’d think at this point the Olympics would be interested.
“To get a sport into the Olympic schedule is a lot harder than it seems, no matter how cool or popular it may be.”
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