OF all the lessons learned over the years from his grandfather, one in particular sticks in James Heatly’s mind.
“When I was younger and I used to be scared of dives he used to always tell me it was better to try and hurt yourself than to walk back down the stairs,” he revealed.
It is a piece of advice that has served the Edinburgh diver well. Almost 70 years after Sir Peter Heatly competed in his second Olympic Games, grandson James will get the chance to experience his first after being named in the Great Britain squad bound for Tokyo this summer.
It is never easy trying to live up to the achievements of a successful family member but, in qualifying for the Olympics, the 24 year-old has again shown himself to be a successful competitor in his own right following a recent World Cup silver medal and a Commonwealth bronze snared on Gold Coast three years ago.
Sir Peter passed away in 2015 at the ripe old age of 91 but James is determined to carry on the Heatly diving legacy having grown up seeing and hearing all about it.
“The best thing for me about this is keeping it in the family,” he added. “My grandpa had great success in the Commonwealth Games – three times champion – so to get that medal in 2018 to follow in his footsteps was great.
“But he also did two Olympics. And what’s pretty cool is that he was 24 when he competed in his first one and I’m 24 now. So that’s another thing to tick off the list of similarities.
“There were photos and memorabilia all around my grandpa’s house which have since been distributed around the family after he passed.
“I’ve actually got his Commonwealth and European medals at my family house and it’s quite special to have those.
“I’ve seen clips of him performing on You Tube and used to remember watching videos that he owned on projector screens. That was pretty old school.
“I’m sure my grandpa would have been very proud of what I’ve done as he was the one who recommended diving to me when he saw me hurling myself into a pool when we lived in America.”
Delaying the Games for a year has thrown most well-laid plans up in the air but Heatly is content to have come through the turmoil to realise a lifelong dream.
“This has always been my main goal since Rio five years ago,” he explained. “I always knew it was achievable although it was quite frustrating when we went into lockdown as the qualifying process had been going in my favour.
“I kept myself motivated during lockdown and the goal never changed, just the timeline. Instead of throwing my toys out of the pram or having a hissy fit, me and my coach sat down and figured how we were going to make it work.
“I can’t quite put into words what it means to be an Olympian. When I found out I was on the team it was just a huge sigh of relief as I had been working towards this for ages.
“It’s the one event I haven’t done – I’ve done the worlds, the Europeans and the Commonwealths. And I’m quite happy that I can tick this one off the bucket list all being well.”
His recent World Cup experiences in Tokyo ought to serve him in good stead for a return to an Olympics set to be stripped of any fun or extravagance as Japan continues to battle against Covid.
“It was the strangest experience ever,” he added. “Normally you would head out a week before but we couldn’t get there in the normal timeframe so there were only three training days to get over the jetlag.
“We were completely stuck in the hotel and couldn’t leave your floor. There was nothing really to do apart from hang out in the corridor with the guys.
“It was quite sad but the way I looked at it there was nothing to distract you and you could just focus on the performance.
“It’s a shame there will be no after-parties at the Olympics as I hear those are great fun! It’s just going to be a case of heading there, getting the job done and heading home again.
“There will be no trips to karaoke bars but I’m sure I can find one or two in Edinburgh when I get back!”
And can he better his grandpa’s achievements by winning an Olympic medal?
“Who knows? Diving is one of those sports where truly anything can happen. And it doesn’t matter if you do your first dive well you’ve still got five more to do.
“I got a silver at the World Cup that I was extremely proud of but there were a lot of big names missing. But the scores that I got would put me in the mix if I could replicate those.”
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