Latest news with #British-born
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
From the circus to 27-metre platform, high divers find their kicks in the sport
High diver Gary Hunt, who will be competing at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, was once an amusement park entertainer. SINGAPORE – In the sport of high diving where adrenaline junkies leap off eight-storey platforms while executing flips and spins, it is no surprise that some of its athletes hail from entertainment backgrounds. Take British-born Frenchman Gary Hunt for example, a two-time world champion in the sport, who played a Tarzan-like character at the Walygator Grand-Est – an amusement park in France – for several years before becoming a high diver. To relax before a competition, Hunt is often seen juggling balls to 'slow his mind'. 'You're not really thinking what you are doing. It can almost feel like your brain is not controlling your hands,' he told The Guardian in 2023. High diving is an extreme aquatics discipline in which athletes jump from platforms of 27 metres for the men and 20 metres for the women and execute acrobatic stunts during the dive. Athletes can reach speeds of up to 85kmh before hitting the water, Unlike standard diving, high diving does not use springboards or platforms – of 3m and 10m – commonly seen in Olympic events. Instead, athletes dive from static platforms, often built over natural bodies of water or temporary structures. Judges score each dive based on difficulty, execution, and water entry. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business Singapore's digital banks finding their niche in areas like SMEs as they narrow losses in 2024 World Trump says US will charge 19% tariff on goods from Philippines, down from 20% Singapore Two found dead after fire in Toa Payoh flat Singapore 2 foreigners arrested for shop theft at Changi Airport Opinion Most companies onboard wrong – here's how to get it right Sport AC Milan's Rafael Leao gives Singapore fan an unforgettable birthday Life Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath's bat-biting frontman turned reality TV star, dies aged 76 Singapore Ports and planes: The 2 Singapore firms helping to keep the world moving Hunt is in Singapore for the World Aquatics Championships (WCH), where he will be competing alongside 22 other male participants and 16 female divers in Sentosa from July 24 to 27. Four-time women's world champion Rhiannan Iffland, who previously worked as an acrobatic trampoline and diving entertainer on cruise ships, will also be in town. When asked about the transition from performer to diver, the Australian told The Straits Times in a Zoom interview: 'A lot of people come from performing shows, a lot of people come from an elite diving background, some come from gymnastics… So it's a real mixed bag. But I definitely think it helps to have been a performer. 'I know in the beginning of my career, it felt like you're putting on a show. If you make the transition from show diving or entertainment diving to competition, it kind of feels similar. 'And when you do shows, I feel like you play around a lot more, and you test your skills, and you really develop a lot of different skills. And one of those things is doing the dives and performing the dives somewhat under pressure, because in a show, people are watching you, and in a competition, also people are watching you.' Iffland will be on the hunt for a record fifth consecutive world championship gold when she takes to the platform at the Palawan Green. Joining her is another former performer Kaylea Arnett, who worked at the Cirque du Soleil. She was also part of the House of Dancing Water, a watershow performance in Macau, where the cast included high divers Carlos Gimeno, two-time world championship medallist Catalin-Petru Preda and Meili Carpenter – the trio are also competing in Singapore. When competitive diving gets stressful for Arnett, performing 'keeps things fun' for the American. 'It reminds me not to take it too seriously, because there was a time back in the day that competing took the fun out of diving for me. It was too much pressure. I wasn't getting the results that I wanted, and it just became not fun anymore,' she said in an interview with Native News Online in 2024. 'So, I found a way. Doing shows made diving really fun for me again because there was no pressure, and I learned all these new skills. I've learned how to take that with me into this new competition world.'
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Relic of first millennial saint Carlo Acutis venerated in Hegewisch
Back in 2009, Italian Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, bishop of Assisi, saw that the pastor of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore had put up a picture of Carlo Acutis, a late devout Catholic and internet expert. Acutis, a British-born teen who became known in Assisi and beyond for his devotion to the Eucharist, had died in 2006 at age 15. But he had an outsized spiritual impact during his short life, using his computer programming skills to establish popular religious websites in Italy, including one devoted to documenting Eucharistic miracles. 'I didn't know him when I arrived in Assisi,' Sorrentino told people gathered at a church last week in Hegewisch. 'I saw many young people come. I saw Carlo had a power of collecting young people.' Acutis is set to be canonized as the Catholic Church's first millennial saint on Sept. 7. Sorrentino, who is the curator of Acutis' tomb and relic in Assisi, delivered a message of hope and rebirth July 16 at Christ Our Light Parish — St. Florian Church in Chicago's Hegewisch neighborhood while leading a veneration of a relic of Acutis, a muscle from his heart. People began showing up at St. Florian more than an hour before the service was set to start, filling the pews by the time the service started. 'This is amazing to have a soon-to-be canonized saint like Carlo so close to our home,' said Karina Bermejo, who was accompanied by several family members. 'To have the archbishop of Assisi is also remarkable.' Fellow parishioner Adriana Rodriguez came with her father, Jose, who was also in awe. 'The significance of being able to see in real life a piece of somebody who is going to be canonized a saint,' said Rodriguez. 'Sometimes when we think about saints, we think about the old or in the past. To be able to witness this in our time is incredible,' she said. Bringing the relic here, Rodriguez said, would enable her to more fully participate in Acutis' canonization in Italy. 'Some people can't go to Italy to be present,' she said. 'Because of this event, we're going to be present in spirit.' Sorrentino also visited other parishes with the relic, including St. Hedwig Church in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood, part of Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish, the first parish in North America named for the soon-to-be saint. The Rev. David Simonetti, pastor of St. Florian Church, had the opportunity to invite Sorrentino by chance, and was thrilled that he came. 'Archbishop Sorrentino was in Seattle and my classmate is in a parish there,' Simonetti said. 'My friend called me and said Sorrentino had a free day, would you like him to come to your parish? I said I certainly would.' Mark Martich, a St. Florian member who was greeting visitors as they came in, said he hadn't heard much about Acutis prior to the relic service. 'It really piqued my curiosity about what he accomplished,' Martich said, adding Acutis' canonization might be a good way to 'get the young ones involved in the church.' Sorrentino agreed, saying Acutis has become a symbol of hope as well as a bridge between generations in the internet age. 'My friends, don't worry, don't be afraid, it is the little boys who teach their grandfathers about computers,' he said. '(Acutis) will teach you the language of this world.' That youthful aspect, he said, could create waves throughout the world. 'Can the church be young again after 2,000 years?' Sorrentino asked. 'Can the church say something very interesting that touches and moves many? 'Carlo would say the Eucharist is my highway to heaven. … It's time to be young again.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Dad-to-Be Pete Davidson Supported Girlfriend Elsie Hewitt Amid Her Endometriosis Journey
'Welp now everyone knows we had sex,' model Elsie Hewitt posted on Instagram on July 16 alongside shots of her with boyfriend Pete Davidson — and a sonogram pic. The British-born 29-year-old and the 31-year-old SNL vet were first spotted together in March during a beachy getaway in Palm Beach, Fla., and made their red carpet debut in May. Pete, who has dated Ariana Grande, Kaia Gerber, Margaret Qualley and Kim Kardashian, has already proved himself to be a doting partner. Explaining that she'd had surgery to treat endometriosis — a painful condition in which tissue grows outside the uterus — Elsie gushed in May that the comedian had taken good care of her. 'He has all the heating pads, all the water bottles ready to go, feeds me,' she told a Daily Mail reporter. 'It's very sweet.' Solve the daily Crossword
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- New Straits Times
New clashes outside London hotel housing migrants
LONDON: Anti-migrant protests degenerated again late Sunday outside a London hotel housing asylum seekers, as rioters threw bottles and smoke bombs at the police. Police said they had arrested five people for "violent disorder" at the rally outside the Bell Hotel in the north-east London district of Epping. "Disappointingly we have seen yet another protest, which had begun peacefully, escalate into mindless thuggery with individuals again hurting one of our officers and damaging a police vehicle," Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said in a statement. Police vans guarded the entrance to the hotel as several hundred people rallied outside, according to the British news agency PA. The protestors shouted "save our children" and "send them home", while banners called for the expulsion of "foreign criminals." Tensions have been simmering for days after a 38-year-old asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault. He allegedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denied when brought to court on Thursday. On Thursday evening, eight police officers were wounded in clashes. Anti-immigration riots shook the UK last summer after three girls were stabbed to death by a teenager in the north-western town of Southport, even though the suspect turned out to be British-born. Rioters had attacked hotels housing asylum seekers in several towns, including an attempt to set fire to an establishment in Rotherham, in north-east England.
Herald Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Herald Sun
New clashes outside London hotel housing migrants
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Anti-migrant protests degenerated again late Sunday outside a London hotel housing asylum seekers, as rioters threw bottles and smoke bombs at the police. Police said they had arrested five people for "violent disorder" at the rally outside the Bell Hotel in the north-east London district of Epping. "Disappointingly we have seen yet another protest, which had begun peacefully, escalate into mindless thuggery with individuals again hurting one of our officers and damaging a police vehicle," Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said in a statement. Police vans guarded the entrance to the hotel as several hundred people rallied outside, according to the British news agency PA. The protestors shouted "save our children" and "send them home", while banners called for the expulsion of "foreign criminals". Tensions have been simmering for days after a 38-year-old asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault. He allegedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denied when brought to court on Thursday. On Thursday evening, eight police officers were wounded in clashes. Anti-immigration riots shook the UK last summer after three girls were stabbed to death by a teenager in the north-western town of Southport, even though the suspect turned out to be British-born. Rioters had attacked hotels housing asylum seekers in several towns, including an attempt to set fire to an establishment in Rotherham, in north-east England. ctx/gv/jj Originally published as New clashes outside London hotel housing migrants
