FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Several athletes went to great heights to achieve the perfect dive. The competitors that love the sport are trained to block out any fears.
If you have fear of heights, the high dive is not the place for you.
“We have a few screws loose cause no normal person will be jumping off a tower like that, so we are a little bit crazy,” said Christopher Bednar, a professional high diver.
These are professional high divers who are competing in the inaugural technical freestyle high diving competition in Fort Lauderdale, where the heights are up to 90 feet.
During the competition, athletes complete up to five flips and twists as they hit the water at nearly 60 mph in less than three seconds.
“My parents, when I first told them this is what I want to do with my life, they were like, ‘Are you sure about that?'” Ellie Smart said. “But, you know, it’s an awesome sport and it’s growing, and it’s really developing globally.”
Smart lives in South Florida and started diving when she was 5 years old. She is running the event as she continues to train and compete for the Red Bull Cliff Diving series.
The heights are just as high, but the views are even more spectacular.
“A lot of people think we’re fearless and just adrenaline junkies, but the truth is, I’m scared every single time I go up there,” Smart said. “But the feeling you get when you overcome something you think you can’t do, it’s just absolutely incredible and so rewarding, and it brings me back every time.”
Smart is leading the effort to have free-styling high diving as an Olympic event in the 2028 summer games in Los Angles.
The athletes who are training for completions, explained to people why they do this.
“When I tell them that I’m a high diver they usually think that I’m talking about 10 meters, like the Olympic height, and then I have to tell them that it’s actually three times higher than that, and then they think it’s really crazy,” Branden Rumpit said.
Judges score each dive based on approach, takeoff, execution and entry into the water.
“When you’re all the way on the top of the tower, it is very scary and intimidating,” Bednar said. “It’s quite terrifying, but once you commit to the jump and takeoff, and you’re in the air, it’s really nice when you’re falling through the sky and it’s just a great feeling.”
But there is a flip side to each jump.
“If you land just a little bit off, it can really hurt sometimes,” Jody England said. “If you land over, like on your back or on your butt, it can really hurt. It’s honestly not too bad, like after five minutes, you’re OK again.”
The goal for high diving to be an official Olympic event in the 2028 games. But it will be a non-medal test event next summer at the Paris Olympics.
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