Daredevil cliff divers who leap from 27-metre platform
The 27m-high platform is the highest dive ever attempted on British shores - with competitors hitting the water at speeds of up to 60mph.
They say hitting the water feels like smashing into a brick wall - but that did not put off these daredevil cliff divers as they plummeted 27 metres on the Welsh coast.
Fourteen of the world’s best took the plunge in their world championships into the Blue Lagoon in Pembrokeshire, in the UK leg of a global series.
The Speedo-clad competitors took flight from a 10-storeyhigh dive platform above a former coastal quarry - nearly three times higher than Tom Daley’s 10m jump in the London 2012 Olympics.
The 27m-high platform is the highest dive ever attempted on British shores - with competitors hitting the water at speeds of up to 60mph.
Among them is Daley’s former Olympic dive partner Blake Aldridge who was used to jumping from the more sedate height of 10m as the rest of the normal divers.
Speaking before the plunge, Aldridge said: ‘Hitting the water from that height is like a car crash every time - it’s like hitting a brick wall. But once you jump off there is nothing else that can happen.‘It’s done and you have to prepare for how to hit the water. The impact is ridiculous. It’s a massive shock going from head to toe.
You’re hitting the water at 90kph (60mph) plus. Funnily enough, that’s part of the excitement.’
Only the world’s 14 best divers were invited to compete in the two-day competiton.
The former coastal slate mine i n Abereiddy, Pembrokeshire, was chosen as a location because of its vertigo-inducing cliff height and the depth of its sheltered turquoise waters.Gary Hunt, from Southampton, is the reigning Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion and is currently second in the 2012 tour.Hunt said: ‘It’s a constant battle with your mind. You have to overcome your fears and the feeling that brings is like no other sport.
The season has been full of ups and downs but we’re in the business end of the tournament now - so expect some of the best diving in the world as the fight for the title really starts.’
The Welsh leg of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2012 is the first time the competition has been held in Britain.It is the penultimate round in the World Series which visits France, Mexico, Portugal and Hawaii and provides stunning backdrops to the divers death-defying leaps.