|
DISCIPLINE
Cliff
Diving is the acrobatic perfection of diving into water.
|
... Three seconds
...
time for a
breath;
a short sentence;
an idea, immediately forgotten;
or for a mistake
which you will regret for years.
Gravitation needs three seconds to let a
human fall 26 meters,
to accelerate him up to nearly 100 kilometers per
hour.
The descent turns a human into a formula-one-body,
in three seconds
accelerating from zero to one hundred kilometers per hour and
from hundred
to zero within only three or four meters of breaking distance.
Without
belt, without helmet, without carbon cockpit, just with a swimsuit and
teeth protection ... |
|
Christian
Eichler, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
August 1998 (translated in English) |
| Technical
Data |
|
| heights |
~18 - 23
meters female / ~22 - 27 meters male |
| entering
speed |
75 - 100
km/h |
| entering
depth |
2.5 - 4.5
meters |
| free fall |
~3 seconds |
| impact |
9 times
harder than from the 10 meter platform |
| physical
forces |
shortly up
to 100 G |
Athlete's
requirements
A strong technical education and many years of experience in diving or a
similar acrobatic sport are the main prerequisites for a high diver.
Other necessary strengths include courage, self-confidence, extraordinary
physical control and the ability to make decisions within fractions of a
second based on the following impulses: sight, space, time and experience.
Most athletes reach their maximum technical skill and psychical maturity
at an age of around 30.
Risks
The
body is exposed to enormous forces during a high dive, especially during
entrance into the water. As tired muscles can lead to injuries, athletes
perform only a limited number of dives during a single practice session or
competition.
The moment of the highest risk is upon entry in the water : while the
parts of the body under water are in highest deceleration, the rest of the
body above the water is still in full acceleration. The athlete must be at
maximum strength and muscle tightness upon entry, to avoid compression or
contortion of the body or its parts by the toughness of the water.
It can be assumed that a high diver with experience will not land
horizontally. Making a crash-landing into water at 26 m could be
analogized to the same landing on the street at 13 m.
High diving over 28 metres is in principle, not justifiable. Due to the
rapid acceleration there is nearly no time benefit in dives of additional
distance, but the risk of injury is greatly increased with each additional
meter.
|