Leon Taylor

{{about|the Olympic diver|the governor of New Jersey|Leon Rutherford Taylor|the American soccer player|Leon Taylor (soccer)|The Bill character|Leon Taylor (The Bill)|the Liberian footballer|Leon Sullivan Taylor}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

|name= Leon Taylor

|image= File:Leon-Taylor-presenting-June-2019.jpg

|imagesize=

|caption= Leon Taylor talks to a group about mental wellness

|fullname= Leon Taylor

|altname=

|nickname=

|country= Great Britain

|formercountry=

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1977|11|2}}

|birth_place = Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England

|hometown= Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England

|training=

|death_date =

|death_place =

|height= {{convert|178|cm|ftin}}

|event= 10 m platform,
10 m synchro

|level=

|natlteam=

|club=

|collegeteam=

|partner= Peter Waterfield

|former_partner=

|headcoach=

|assistcoach=

||retired= 29 May 2008

|medaltemplates=

{{MedalCountry | {{GBR2}} }}

{{MedalCountry | {{ENG}} }}

}}

Leon Taylor (born 2 November 1977) is a former British competitive diver. During his diving career he won medals at all major international events including a silver at the Athens Olympics. Following his retirement from competition, Taylor transitioned to a portfolio of projects. He now speaks about mental wellness,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkZl2gsLUp4 |title=How to manage your mental health |website=YouTube }} supports the SportsAid charity,{{cite web |url=https://www.sportsaid.org.uk/get-involved/become-a-partner/ |title=SportsAid Ambassadors |publisher=SportsAid }} teaches yoga and mental wellness,{{cite web|url=https://help.headspace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043579373-I-have-more-questions-about-Move-Mode |title=About Move Mode |publisher=Headspace }} works for an executive performance business{{cite web|url=https://adekiperformance.com/team |title=Adeki Performance}} and commentates for the BBC.

Background

Taylor was born and educated in Cheltenham where he attended Bournside School.{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/bullied-Cheltenham-diving-star/story-11855445-detail/story.html |title=Cheltenham diving star Leon Taylor has lent his support to teenage prodigy Tom Daley. | Gloucester Citizen |publisher=Thisisgloucestershire.co.uk |date=29 April 2009 |access-date=29 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208102716/http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/bullied-Cheltenham-diving-star/story-11855445-detail/story.html |archive-date=8 February 2013 |df=dmy-all }}

He was hyperactive as a child and his parents were advised to channel his energies and enthusiasm into sport. He was a swimmer and gymnast from the age of two and took up competitive diving when he was eight. By the age of 11 he was a national champion. He trained at Cheltenham Leisure Centre under Dave Turner and then Ian Barr until 1996.

Diving career

Taylor represented Great Britain at three Summer Olympic Games{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/47417 |title=Leon Taylor |work=Olympedia |access-date=23 May 2020}} and was a member of the Great Britain team for 16 years winning medals at all major international championships.{{cite web|url=http://www.leontaylor.co.uk/html/athlete.php |title=Sporting achievements of Olympic medallist Leon Taylor |publisher=Leontaylor.co.uk |date= |access-date=29 July 2014}} In the diving events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he won the Silver medal in the men's synchronised 10-metre platform, with partner Peter Waterfield. It was Britain's first Olympic diving medal since Brian Phelps in 1960. He had come fourth in the same competition in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Other achievements include Silver in the men's 10 m platform at the 2002 Commonwealth Games (he had won Bronze in 1998), and Bronze in the 10 m synchro at the 1999 European Aquatics Championships. At a national level, Taylor held both the 10 m platform and 10 m synchro titles from 1994 to 2006.

He trained with other members of the British team in the Ponds Forge swimming complex in Sheffield.

In 1998 Leon invented the 5255b; a back 2.5 somersaults, 2.5 twists{{cite web |url=http://web.lloyds2012.es-web3.lbi.co.uk/en/Trackside/QA-with-Leon-Taylor/ |title=Q&A with Leon Taylor |publisher=LloydsTSB |access-date=3 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920012355/http://web.lloyds2012.es-web3.lbi.co.uk/en/Trackside/QA-with-Leon-Taylor/ |archive-date=20 September 2016 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.swimming.org/britishswimming/diving/about-diving/ |title=The fundamentals of diving |publisher=British Swimming }} which at the time was the World's most difficult dive with a tariff of 3.8. Following a rule change in 2009, the dive now carries a tariff of 3.6.{{cite web|url=http://www.fina.org/project/docs/rules/rules_dA2.pdf |title=FINA Table of Degree of Difficulty |publisher=Fina.org |access-date=29 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913161738/http://www.fina.org/project/docs/rules/rules_dA2.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2015 }}

Retirement and post-competitive career

Although Taylor had been planning to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics, he announced his retirement from competition in May of that year following a number of injuries.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/diving/7423913.stm |title= Diver Taylor announces retirement |access-date=29 May 2008 |last=Cheese |first=Caroline |date=29 May 2008 |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC }}

Between 2006 – 2008, he completed an HNC (Higher National Certificate) in Business and Finance from Sheffield Hallam University.

{{cite web|first=|last=|url=http://arum.lits.shu.ac.uk/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=309|title=Notable alumni|publisher=shu.ac.uk|date=|access-date=15 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213120223/http://arum.lits.shu.ac.uk/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=309|archive-date=13 February 2012|url-status=dead}}

Taylor now works as a public speaker, presenter, conference host, BBC commentator and mentor to members of the British team.{{cite web |url=http://www.leontaylor.co.uk/html/about.php |title= About Leon. |access-date=5 September 2008 |last= |first= |date= |publisher=}}

In 2010 Taylor published a book on the subject of mentoring:{{cite web |url=http://www.leontaylor.co.uk/html/book.php |title=Mentor – The Book |publisher=Leon Taylor |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723055825/http://www.leontaylor.co.uk/html/book.php |archive-date=23 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }} MENTOR - The most important role you were never trained for. This work built on his experience of mentoring many athletes, most notably Olympic medalist Tom Daley.{{cite web| url=https://www.swimming.org/diving/tom-daley-idol-leon-taylor/ | title=Tom Daley says Leon Taylor was his idol as a young diver | date=18 April 2020 | df=dmy-all }}

In January 2013, Taylor was named as a judge on the ITV celebrity diving show Splash!. He returned to judge on the show in its second series, airing in 2014.{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/who-will-join-tom-daley-on-the-high-board-splash-celebrity-contestants-announced-8435813.html | location=London | work=The Independent | title=Who will join Tom Daley on the high board? Splash! celebrity contestants announced | date=2 January 2013}} Taylor had planned, and booked, a once-in-a-lifetime trip to New Zealand with his girlfriend when 'Splash' came about instead.{{Cite web|url=https://aquaticregister.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/61/|title = Q & A with SPLASH! Judge and Olympic diver Leon Taylor|date = 21 February 2013}}

In 2016 Taylor was part of the BBC commentary team for the diving events at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and for the 2017 World Aquatics Championships.

In 2018, Taylor spoke at the TEDx Clapham event on the subject of managing prolonged mental stress with the aid of physical movement.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkZl2gsLUp4 |work=TEDx |title=Leon Taylor - How to manage your mental health }} He has followed this with a series of videos on the subject of stress.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtaLPi-NBXbsh0tQ8MqAqkXlbfdozYrDl |work=Youtube |title=How to deal with stress series}}

In March 2020, Taylor led a series of exercise routines for the Headspace mobile app.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykarcz/2020/03/05/headspace-is-using-your-viral-video-addiction-to-get-you-to-meditate-more/ |title=Headspace launch Move Mode with Leon Taylor |work=Forbes |date=5 March 2020 }}

Taylor's sporting career became the basis of a children's story novel, Leon's Magic Mantra, authored by Sarah Griffiths, who wrote it in collaboration with Taylor by video call during the Covid pandemic. It was launched in June 2022.{{cite news|title=Olympian dives in with stories to tell in children's book|work=Shropshire Star|date=24 June 2022|page=18}}Report by Ollie Westbury of book launch in Telford, Shropshire.

Personal life

Taylor has a son, Ziggy, with partner Allie Hill.{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Natalie |date=2020-04-29 |title=I'm a vegetarian yoga-lover - I wasn't meant to be the woman who got cancer |url=https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/29/strong-women-im-vegetarian-yoga-lover-wasnt-meant-woman-got-cancer-12622206/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=Metro |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2021-05-24 |title=I loved the water as a youngster ... now I can't wait to get Ziggy to lessons |url=https://www.swimming.org/justswim/leon-taylor-love-swimming/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=Just Swim |language=en}}

Bibliography

{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Leon|title=MENTOR: The Most Important Role You Were Never Trained For|publisher=Soap Box Books|date=1 May 2011|isbn=978-1907261046}}

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.leontaylor.co.uk}}
[https://twitter.com/leontaylorgb Official Twitter account]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkZl2gsLUp4 TEDx talk - How to manage your mental health]

Category:1977 births

Category:Living people

Category:English male divers

Category:Divers at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Category:Divers at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Category:Divers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games

Category:Divers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games

Category:Divers at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Category:Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University

Category:Olympic divers for Great Britain

Category:Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain

Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England