Rick Charls is a former American high diver who held the world record for the highest dive of 172 feet (52.4256 meters).

Background

Charls, a native of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

, was a high school and collegiate All-American and a two-time Mid-American Conference diving champion at

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subsequ ...

Career

Charls made his record-breaking dive at

SeaWorld San Diego SeaWorld San Diego is an animal theme park, oceanarium, outside aquarium and marine mammal park, in San Diego, California, United States, inside Mission Bay Park. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. SeaWorld San Dieg ...

, which was viewed by millions of people on ABC’s ''Wide World of Sports''. The dive was performed in conjunction with the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

and the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the st ...

. Since 1983, many divers have tried to break this record, but sustained injuries upon impact with the water and had to be rescued. Charls, Rick Winters, Bruce Boccia, Mike Foley and Dana Kunze were the only divers to receive credit for the dive. Charls also earned honors as the 1980 world tandem high diving champion, along with third place finishes and bronze medals at the 1982 World Target High Diving Championships in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

and the World Acrobatic High Diving Championships at

SeaWorld SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charls, Rick American male divers Living people Male high divers Ohio Bobcats athletes Sportspeople from Cincinnati Year of birth missing (living people) World record holders