At the 2024 Paris Olympics, all eyes were on men’s diving – or rather, Jules Bouyer’s snug swimsuit. Bouyer was gracious about the unexpected attention, but he should be better known for producing the host nation’s best diving result at the Games (fifth in 3m synchro with Alexis Jandard). He also placed eighth individually on 3m. 

Bouyer, 22, was born in Annecy, started diving at age 6, and now trains in Paris at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (INSEP). As a youth in Lyon, he also played basketball, soccer, and golf but when he dropped those sports and tripled his pool time, he eventually made his World Aquatics Championship debut at 19, and placed fourth on the 1m springboard in Budapest, Hungary. A year later, he took bronze in 3m synchro with Jandard at the 2023 world championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Then, just five months before the 2024 Paris Olympics, he produced his best individual world championship result on 3m: fifth place in Doha, Qatar.

But how well do you know Bouyer?  At the World Cup in Windsor, Canada, earlier this month, he shared a few secrets with World Aquatics. 

The most influential person in my life (outside of diving) is:

My mom.  I have two older brothers, my dad worked, and my mom, Valerie, did everything to help me in my sport, to be happy every day. For about eight or 10 years, she drove me to the pool and back. She also worked for my club in Lyon for a long time, so she helped me a lot.

My most prized possession is:

It’s a bracelet that my mom gave me when I was 18 years old.  It's not with me at the moment because I forget it in France. But, normally, 100% of the time I have it on in competition. I love it. It's a Dinh Van. You know the brand? It's two [interlocking] circles like this. Mine is all black. I wear it on my left side. It was a birthday gift.

I have two unusual talents:

I know how to play diabolo [which is a circus prop kind of like a giant yo-yo, with a string and a bobbin]. When I was 11, I saw someone playing it in school, so I started to play a lot. Two years ago, I taught it to [high diving world champion] Gary Hunt. He was on our team in INSEP for four years with me, where I taught to him how to play. I can also solve the Rubik's Cube in less than one minute. Sometimes I like to bring it to competition so when the wait is very long, I can be focused on other things.

Besides diving, my favourite World Aquatics sport is:

Swimming or artistic swimming.  For a long time I didn't like swimming, but when I came to INSEP I met some swimmers who did the Olympics, and now we're friends. I have friends in artistic swimming, too, so I see them at the World Championships.  I saw Leon Marchand in the Olympics. He trains in the US, but sometimes he comes to INSEP.  I don't know him very well but at the Olympics, I wanted to see him win. [All the final swimming sessions required a special ticket and a credential because the International Olympic Committee considered it a “high demand event”] but we were in France, so we just negotiated to go.

I didn’t see any other events – only swimming – because I finished very late, on August 8, and the Closing Ceremony was on the 11^th.

Am I more of a flipper or a twister?

I think my best dives are twisting, but they are also the most scary for me. I used to have many problems with twisting and getting lost in the air – the same problem as Gary Hunt [and US gymnast Simone Biles who called them “the twisties”]. Even so, I prefer twisting because my reverse twist is my best dive, and one of my favourites. I’ve never gotten a 10. It's a goal, but it’s hard to do on springboard. I got some 9.5s, though. If I did get a 10, I think it would be for my 5337D, a reverse 1½ with 3½ twists. Or maybe my 307C, reverse 3½.

Assuming Bouyer stays healthy, fans should be able to see him compete in the World Aquatics Diving World Cup Super Final in Beijing in May and/or at his fourth consecutive world championships from July 25 to August 3.