Wegadesk Gorup-Paul
Wegadesk Gorup-Paul, whose name means "Northern Lights" in the indigenous Mik'maq language of Nova Scotia, was a former Native-Canadian international level diver. Wegadesk retired from his career as a diver in 2007 at the age of 19 after taking up diving in 1998 as an eleven year old. Initially hesitant about the sport, Wegadesk excelled on both the national and international level of competition as a medalist at National Championships and World Junior Championships. In the year leading up to and after his retirement, Wegadesk was the recipient of several awards in community involvement, primarily with youth.
Recently Wegadesk has taken to art and performing... both of which can be viewed on his website www.wegadesk.com
Early life
Wegadesk Gorup-Paul, a native Mik'maq originally hailing from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, took up diving at the age of eleven after his mother noticed him doing flips on the family trampoline. Raised by a single mother of four, Wegadesk notes that money was always tight as a child, but the family was always able to get the funds together to travel to competition. Originally hesitant about taking up the sport at a competitive level because of the regulation "Speedo" the athletes wear in competition, Wegadesk eventually warmed up to the uniform as he quickly transformed into a highly talented diver.Competitive career
Training under coach Trevor Palmatier at the Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria, BC, for the Boardworks Diving program, Wegadesk began to quickly find success on both the national and international levels. Wegadesk focused primarily on platform diving and synchronized events at large competitions. With his eyes originally on competing at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, Wegadesk had many strong results for his country and many top 10 finishes at international events. At the time of his retirement from competitive diving in 2007, Wegadesk was ranked at number three in the world for platform diving.Competing for Canada at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, he placed 4th in the men's synchronized 10 metre platform event and 8th in the men's 10 metre platform event.