annette horn photography
annette horn    photography

3 seconds

A moment of concentration, of inner preparation, to take a deep breath before springing, turning, spinning, flying, plunging for 3 seconds, then hitting ice cold water, feet first, with the impact of 3 G force.

Holding all muscles tight, tense to protect all body parts and to minimise impact on bones, ligaments, tendons and organs. The pain is there but doesn’t deter.

High divers dive from a height of 26 metres.

Every succesful dive is celebrated by audience and competitors alike because the awareness of the danger is only too great.

 

In this sport, all who dive are champions, even if there is only one winner.

The 2008 High Diving World Championships in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico was organised by La Quebrada High Diving Productions Ltd (LQHDP), together with the World High Diving Federation (WHDF). The divers photographed are Steve Black, Magnus Delhi-Vigeland, Laurent Fischer, Saul Gomez, Juan Gutierrez, Todd Michael, Joel Norton, Egil Omarsson and Christian Wurst.  

High Diving, or Cliff Diving,  is the acrobatic perfection of diving into water from an elevated height. This sport demands tremendous physical and psychical fitness. After their launch from 25 or 26 metres, athletes have approximately 3 seconds to execute their dives before entering the water with more than 85 km/h.

Divers at the 2009 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, Sisikon, Switzerland : Steve Black, Orlando Duque, Gary Hunt, Andrey Ignatento, Alain Kohl, Kent de Mond, Hassan Mouti, Michal Navratil, Cyrille Oumedijkane and Slava Polishchuk.