Chris Mears is one of the UK’s most accomplished diving champions. He’s also known as Tom Daley’s pal. After an ankle injury in 2013 put him out of training for a period, he turned his attention to music and started fiddling with knobs in the production studio. Next Monday, he DJs an exclusive set at Popcorn @ Heaven in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Cliff Joannou met him on a sunny Saturday afternoon for a coffee where he was disappointingly not wearing Speedos. He clearly didn’t get the memo…
You’re just recovering from a major injury…
At the end of last year, I rolled both my ankles, so as well as being sore it put me out for so long. It’s horrible. Really bad. I was just training, doing a jump, and I wasn’t even doing anything that spectacular. It’s that frustrating, and then you’re out for three months. This was a tough one, because I was making the move from training in Southampton to Leeds, so I was battling with that, let alone switching coaches and being on crutches.
Does diving feel like ‘work’ when you’re training?
It is my job, but it is the best job in the world. I like putting myself out of my comfort zone and getting that buzz, and that’s what diving gives me pretty much every day. What most people see is all the spins, twists, turns, entry, but it’s so much more than that. Like, there’s so many basics you have to do, and doing thousands of them every day can be quite repetitive. But training is about 60% gym to get your body fit.
Really silly question, but how do sportspersons like yourself earn a living?
It’s Lottery funded by UK Sport, which is awesome. So we get a salary, if you like. Depending on results in the year, we have to hit our targets that are given by our Performance Director to earn our funding back. You can relate it to if you have a job you have to meet your targets otherwise you’re not pulling your weight.
London 2012 was the first Olympics in which social media was so proliferated. Is it hard to stay focused on training now that sports people also have to maintain a ‘celebrity’ persona?
I think it’s better because it shows you that if you train well, and you perform well, you get more of a reward for it. Although you end up getting a lot of attention, and sometimes I guess you could say it could be unwanted, but in most cases it’s good. Now, if you hit that target that you’ve always dreamed of doing, you get recognition for it.
What are your next big events?
This year I’ve got London World Series coming up in April, then the Commonwealth Games, maybe one or two Grand Prix, World Championships and Europeans. It’s a massive one!
Is that normal?
No, I did it last year, and I struggled, but I got through it.
Why struggled? Mentally or physically?
Physically. Because you have no time to train. I was doing so many competitions I had no time to lift heavy weights and get my bodyweight at the right level.
You probably spend more time nearly naked than most people.
Yeah. I’ve been doing what I do since I was seven and it’s just what we have to do!
Do people assume you’re gay because of the Gay Times shoot and having certain training buddies? [i.e. one Tom Daley]
I guess some people may think that, but if you dig around enough you know I’ve had a long-term girlfriend, but I’ve got a good gay fanbase and I love them all to bits.
You’ve started producing music.
I started when I was sixteen because I got glandular fever and was taken to hospital and I had 5% chance of survival. Basically I nearly died… I got resuscitated six times. I had a lot of time out to recover and I didn’t know what to do. I’d always played guitar and my cousin was a producer for pop artists and I started working on some stuff with him and learned the ropes and started making my own stuff. Things will be coming soon!
What DJs and producers do you look up to?
Tiesto, Hardwell, Avicii. I’d love to work with Zedd or Foxes.
You’re playing at Popcorn at Heaven next. Is this your first club gig?
I’ve done other stuff before. I’ve supported Labrinth, Pendulum. But it’s hard to keep doing it and to balance it, but I do it when I can and this one fitted in perfectly for me.
Is it hard to focus on the diving when you’ve got that in the back of your own mind?
Not at all really, because I’ve got my own studio kitted out and I think you need something else. Instead of watching TV to chill, I do this.
• Chris Mears DJs at Popcorn at Heaven (Villiers Street, WC2N 6NG) on Monday 7th April, 11pm-5.30am.
