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High diving is the act of diving into water from relatively great heights. High diving can be performed as an adventure sport (as with cliff diving), as a performance stunt (as with many records attempts), or competitively during sporting events. It debuted at a

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

event at the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships ( ca, Campionat Mundial de Natació de 2013, es, Campeonato Mundial de Natación de 2013) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, after the sport was added to the federation's list of disciplines. In the world championships, men jump from a platform while women jump from a platform. In other official competitions, men generally dive from a height of while women dive from a height of . The sport is unique in that athletes are often unable to practice in an authentic environment until the days leading up to a competition. High divers have achieved speeds of descent of .

History

Initially, diving as a sport began by jumping from "great heights". Then it was exclusively practiced by gymnasts as they found it exciting with a low probability of injury. It then evolved into "diving in the air" with water as the safety landing base. Efforts by

Thomas Ralph Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

to name the sport "springing" were not realized, as the term "diving" was by then firmly rooted. It soon became a sporting event pursued by many enthusiasts. In the early years of the sport, finding suitable places to jump was an issue, and people started jumping from any high place – in Europe and the United States they started jumping from bridges, then diving head first into the water. This evolved into "fancy diving" in Europe, and, particularly in Germany and Sweden, as a

gymnastic Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

act. The sport further improved with gymnastic acts being performed during the diving process, and was then given the names "springboard diving" and "high fancy diving", which were events in the Olympics of 1908 and 1912. The first diving event as a sport, however, was in 1889 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

with a diving height of . Today, in Latin America, diving by professionals from heights of or more is a common occurrence. Cliff diving has been documented as far back as 1770 when

Kahekili II Kahekili II, full name Kahekilinuiʻahumanu, (c. 1737–1794) was an ali'i (''Moʻi'') of Maui. His name was short for Kāne-Hekili after the Hawaiian god of thunder. Because Kāne-Hekili was believed to be black on one side, Kahekili tattooed on ...

, king of Maui, engaged in a practice called "lele kawa", which in English means jumping feet first into water from great heights without making a splash. The king's warriors were forced to participate to prove that they were courageous and loyal to the king. The practice later developed into a competition under king

Kamehameha I Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Th ...

, and divers were judged on their style and amount of splash upon entering the water. The first female world champion in this sport was

Cesilie Carlton Cesilie Carlton (born 27 March 1981) is an American high diver who won the first gold medal at the high diving competition at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships. She defeated her fellow countrywoman Ginger Huber and German Anna Bader Ann ...

of the United States, who won the first gold medal at the

Orlando Duque Orlando Duque (born September 11, 1974 in Cali, Colombia) is a Colombian high diver. He won the first ever Gold medal in the sport at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España ...

of Colombia who received a score of 590.20.

Overview

Pool diving

Until 2018, the only permanent regulation-size high diving platform in the world is located in Austria, but it is not used during the winter period. In 2018, Zhaoqing Yingxiong High Diving Training Center, which contains the first year-round regulation-size high diving platform, opened at the Zhaoqing Sports Center in

Zhaoqing Zhaoqing (), alternately romanized as Shiuhing, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province, China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,113,594, with 1,553,109 living in the built-up (or metro) area made of Duanzhou, Dinghu ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The training practice is generally done on platforms. The "competition dives" are collectively put in place in pieces, similar to the way a dress is made. Dives such as five

somersault A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatic exercise in which a person's body rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the head. A somersault can be performed forwards, backwards ...

dives can thrill, but some competitors prefer to perform simpler dives.

Outdoor diving

Some outdoor diving involves launching from significant heights. One such diver noted, "There is adrenaline, excitement, danger – so many different energies go through your mind when you jump off. That goes away and then you hit the water come up and it's a massive elation, you feel such self achievement." A rescue team of scuba divers may be involved in some instances, and are required for any official competitions.

Cliff diving

Cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

divers practice the different components of their dives in isolation and only execute the complete dive during championship competitions. Cliff dives are considered extremely difficult and dangerous, a challenge to every competitor; in addition to the physical challenges, they can be mentally challenging to perform.

Events

Both men and women participate in the High Diving World Championships, but the diving height for women is limited to . The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series is held annually and draws crowds of up to 70,000 people. Participants dive from a variety of locations including castles, cliffs, towers, bridges, and the

Copenhagen Opera House The Copenhagen Opera House (in Danish usually called Operaen, literally ''The opera'') is the national opera house of Denmark, and among the most modern opera houses in the world. It is also one of the most expensive opera houses ever built at ...

. Three well-known divers – Gary Hunt, Blake Aldridge and Tom Daley – the last who competed at the 2008 Olympic synchro, were set to dive on a platform at the Moll de la Fusta, Barcelona's port; this dive was to be achieved in 3 seconds at a speed of . Gary Hunt of the United Kingdom won the August 2015 FINA world championships. The average age of the participants in this event was 30. Efforts were being made by divers to make this sport an Olympic event for the

2024 Summer Olympics ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summe ...

to be held in

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. However, the highest platform at the 2024 Summer Olympics will be the usual .

World record high dives

There is considerable debate surrounding record claims for the highest dive, which largely revolves around criteria for what constitutes a valid dive. ABC's '' Wide World of Sports'' produced world record high dives for its Emmy award-winning sports anthology show for more than a decade. They required contestants to dive or execute at least one somersault and exit the water without the assistance of others. In 1983 ''Wide World of Sports'' produced its last World Record High Dive at Sea World in San Diego. Five divers ( Rick Charls, Rick Winters,

Dana Kunze Dana Kunze (born 1960–1961) is an American champion high-diver. He has held the world records for the highest dives. Kunze began his professional high diving career in 1974 at the age of 13. He won his first world championship in 1977 and main ...

, Bruce Boccia, and Mike Foley) successfully executed dives from . In 1985 Randy Dickison dove from at Ocean Park in Hong Kong but sustained a broken femur and could not exit the water on his own. In 1987, Olivier Favre attempted a double back somersault from but broke his back upon impact and had to be rescued.

Laso Schaller Laso Schaller (born November 2, 1988 in Teófilo Otoni, Brazil) is a Brazilian-Swiss extreme athlete in high diving High diving is the act of diving into water from relatively great heights. High diving can be performed as an adventure spor ...

's 2015 jump from a cliff in Switzerland may not be considered a dive based on ABC's criteria (one somersault needed);Laso Schaller's World-Record Jump Was Not a World-Record Dive
/ref> however, he is the current record holder for Highest dive from a diving board according to the ''Guinness Book of Records'', simultaneously holding the Highest Cliff Jump record for the same jump.

Men

Women

Health implications

Some research suggests that the impact associated with high diving could have negative effects on the joints and muscles of athletes. To avoid injury to their arms upon impact with the water, divers from significant heights may enter the water feet first.

Pop culture

The 2018 film ''

Bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

'' featured a main character who was a former competitive high diver.Kenny, Glenn (18 December 2018)
"'Bumblebee' Review: Finally, a 'Transformers' Movie That's Actually Good"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Retrieved 25 November 2022.Terry, Josh (20 December 2018)
"Movie review: If you hate what Michael Bay did to the 'Transformers' franchise, you'll love 'Bumblebee'"
''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

''. Retrieved 25 November 2022. In 2022,

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

group

The Try Guys ''The Try Guys'' is an American online entertainment group and media production company which produces content for their YouTube channel. The group was founded by Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang. The Try Guys ...

tested out high diving in

Mission Viejo, California Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ''Misión Vieja'', Spanish for "Old Mission") is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities e ...

(3 September 2022)
"Try Guys Try High Diving"
''

''. Retrieved 25 November 2022.

Image gallery

File:Dana Kunze.jpg, alt=Dana Kunze,

File:Orlando-Duque Boston-2012-derivated.jpg, A composite dive from

. File:Red Bull Cliff Diving Hamburg 2009 Anna Bader.jpg, Cliff Diving File:Championnat Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2011 - Arrêt de La Rochelle (70).JPG, An event in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

, France. File:Saltos Red Bull en Bilbao 2015 (21713225096).jpg, A person dives from the 27.5 metre platform on La Salve bridge. File:Cliff jumping at Summersville Lake - 09.jpg, Amateur cliff diving File:Rhiannan Iffland.ogg,

Rhiannan Iffland Rhiannan Iffland (born 9 September 1991) is an Australian high diver. She is a six-time consecutive Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion (2016-2019, 2021-2022). She won her first championship in 2016 as a wildcard entrant in her debut y ...

- 2017 World Aquatics Championships Budapest

References

External links

Official website for the FINA High Diving World Cup
{{Extreme sports Diving (sport) Aquatics