Background
Taylor was born and educated in Cheltenham where he attended Bournside School.
Taylor was born and educated in Cheltenham where he attended Bournside School.
He was a swimmer and gymnast from the age of two and took up competitive diving when he was eight. He trained at Cheltenham Leisure Centre under Dave Turner and then Ian Barr until 1996. lieutenant 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.
At a national level, Taylor held both the 10 m platform and 10 m synchro titles from 1994 to 2006. In 1998 Leon invented the 5255b.
A back 2.5 somersaults, 2.5 twists 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.
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.
Between 2006 - 2008, he also completed an Higher National Certificate (Higher National Certificate) Business and Finance from Sheffield Hallam University. In January 2013, Taylor was named as a judge on the Independent Television celebrity diving show Splash!. He returned to judge on the show in its second series, airing in 2014.
Taylor has published a book on the subject of mentoring.
Taylor represented Great Britain at three Summer Olympic Games and was a member of the Great Britain team for 16 years winning medals at all major international championships. He trained with other members of the British team in the Ponds Forge swimming complex in Sheffield. Taylor now works as a public speaker, presenter, conference host, British Broadcasting Corporation commentator and mentor to members of the British team