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floating on the water's surface. The act usually saved until after dark, allowing the flames to add greater drama. The "On Fire, Into Fire" dive was performed—on occasions thrice daily. Then
Fransen would wear a full body costume: a silver painted cotton boiler-suit. Doused with petrol himself, a
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In the late 1940s together with his elder brothers and friends, including diver-stuntman George Baines and diver Vera
Beaumont, Fransen created a high dive stunt and show, aiming to generate an income. Within two seasons had grown into a full-scale water show production called Aqua-Revue, where a
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Although a regular swallow dive from a height of 75 feet (23 m) is twice the average of
Olympic diving, the water in Fransen's dive was less than half as deep, and the surface area of the pool was much smaller. Every dive, even without fire, required precision alignment and split-second
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troupe of 20 to 30 performed a mix of acrobatic water skills, beauty, comedy and danger at open air lidos and indoor swimming pools. Roy
Fransen's Aqua Show, plus Aqua-Belles and Aqua-Zanies, toured many UK holiday resorts well into the mid-1950s.
122:. These high dives were often performed with both diver and water surface being set ablaze with burning petrol. Fransen's professional high and fire diving career lasted over 40 years until an accident during a 1985 performance led to his death.
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As a youth and during the 1930s, Fransen practiced dry and without water at home in suburban Pinner, to improve his athletic hobby and sporting skills. He dived from a springboard into safety-netting set up in his parents' back garden.
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and trade fairs throughout the capital cities of the world were regularly visited, and his act appeared on television across Europe. Fransen appeared in an advertising campaign for
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reactions. Head first (swallow dive) entry into the tank itself—a mere 16 feet (4.9 m) in diameter—demanded perfect aim and a secure launch from the diving platform above.
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The record remained unbroken worldwide for 49 years, and during his lifetime
Fransen remained the unchallenged European high and fire diving champion.
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By 1960 Fransen had developed a more compact arena show. This was billed as the "Dive of Death", and as a spectacle attracted large audiences.
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On 5 July 1985, at the age of 69, Fransen died from injuries when his "Five Dive" show at a public performance at
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moment was selected to set alight both tank and diver, and he would dive 70 feet (21 m) into the water.
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followed by a head-first entry into a 16-foot (4.9 m) diameter (above ground) diving tank.
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In 1946 Fransen made a record breaking high-dive from the roof of
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The "Dive of Death" featured
Fransen diving into burning
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219:Guinness Book of World Records, 1985
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216:McWhirter, Norris (April 1985).
250:Rushby, Kevin (22 April 2021).
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150:Earls Court Exhibition Centre
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364:English stunt performers
94:(born 4 January 1916 in
92:Royston Albert Fransen
374:People from Tottenham
199:Air Show went wrong.
29:Personal information
359:English male divers
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379:Divers from London
306:Stunt Diver (1948)
320:High Diver (1958)
229:978-0-553-24805-0
163:The Dive of Death
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144:Record dive
59:5 July 1985
23:Roy Fransen
338:Categories
203:References
154:somersault
108:high diver
40:1916-01-04
116:acrobatic
96:Tottenham
48:Tottenham
287:26 March
261:26 March
235:26 March
197:Northolt
112:stuntman
98:, north
67:Northolt
328:YouTube
314:YouTube
104:England
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180:petrol
169:Circus
126:Career
100:London
84:Diving
191:Death
173:Timex
80:Sport
75:Sport
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