Olympic parc Munich High Diving SV Stadtwerke 0646

High diving is the act of

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

into water from relatively great heights. High diving can be performed as an

adventure sport Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are physical activity, activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly speci ...

(as with cliff diving), as a performance stunt (as with many records attempts), or competitively during sporting events. It debuted at a

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

event at the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sho ...

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 group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sho ...

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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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, (–1794) was an () 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 one side of his body fr ...

, 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 Paiʻea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiʻikui Kamehameha o ʻIolani i Kaiwikapu kauʻi Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea; to May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii ...

, 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 to win ...

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

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The first male world champion was

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 Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a co ...

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 ( zh, c=肇庆), 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 Duanz ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. 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 acrobatics, acrobatic exercise in which a person's body Rotation#Sports, rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the Human head, head. A somersau ...

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 or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), 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. ...

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 The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, established in 2009 and created by Red Bull GmbH, Red Bull, is an annual international series of Diving (sport), cliff diving events in which a limited number of competitors determine the Cliff Diving ...

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 a ...

. Efforts were made by divers to make this sport an Olympic event for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

held in

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, however the highest platform was 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 Charls is a former American high diver who currently holds the World Record for the Highest Dive from 172 ft / 52 meters. Background Charls, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, was a high school and collegiate All-American and a two-time ...

, Rick Winters,

Dana Kunze Dana Kunze (born January 27, 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 ...

, Bruce Boccia, and Mike Foley) successfully executed dives from . In 1985

Randy Dickison Randy Dickison (died 1996) was a high diver who made attempts at the world record high dive. Dickison attended Phillips Junior High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota with fellow future high diver Dana Kunze. In 1982 he executed a dive and la ...

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 sport ...

'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 usually enter the water feet first.

Impact with water

Water resistance increases with the speed of entry, so entering the water at high-velocity induces rapid and potentially dangerous decelleration. In 1989 a 22 year-old, who was a "...a member of the Salt Lake Country Club diving team... ...climbed up on a set of towering rocks... ...about 60 feet..." (18.2 metres). The 22 year old dove into the water to perform a back flip, but never surfaced from the water and was found several days later 120 feet under the water after suffering a broken neck from the dive due to being unaware of shallow sandy bottom.

In popular culture

* The 2018 film ''

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'' 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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. 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 a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...

''. Retrieved 25 November 2022. * In 2022, the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

r group

The Try Guys ''The Try Guys'' is an American online entertainment group and media production company that 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 ( ; language change, corruption of ; ) is a Commuter town, commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest Planned community, master-planned commu ...

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

''. Retrieved 25 November 2022.

Image gallery

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

. File:Red Bull Cliff Diving Hamburg 2009 Anna Bader.jpg, Cliff Diving from the

Rickmer Rickmers ''Rickmer Rickmers'' is a sailing ship (three masted barque) permanently moored as a museum ship in Hamburg, near the ''Cap San Diego''. Rickmer Clasen Rickmers, (1807–1886) was a Bremerhaven shipbuilder and , (1873–1965) led a S ...

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'') 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 Departments of France, 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 seven-time consecutive Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion (2016– 2019, 2021– 2023). She won her first championship in 2016 as a wildcard entrant in her ...

- 2017 World Aquatics Championships Budapest

References

External links

Official website for the FINA High Diving World Cup
{{Extreme sports

High diving 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 ...

Diving (sport) Aquatics