Anna Bader is the only woman in the male-dominated world of cliff diving. Together with champion Orlando Duque, she tells us some essential dos and don'ts to help you survive your first jump.
1. Check the depth of the water before you jump. Take a pair of diving goggles along with you to get an impression of the seafloor or the lake’s bottom. If its lowest point is deeper than 4m, your landing is safe: even with a take-off point of 30m, you won’t penetrate the water deeper than 4m. This because of the friction energy of the water molecules which get denser the deeper you go.
2. Your take-off point should be comfortable to stand on so you are able to be calm and to contentrate before your dive. Nasty balancing acts will only impair your confidence. Focus on your breath.
3. Visualise how you want to perform your dive and calculate if you have sufficient height to pull it off. To approximate the distance between you and the water, throw a small knotted towel and observe how it distorts the surface.
4. A concussion is anything but amusing so avoid landing head first if you plunge from more than 10m. If you still want to do a header, put your fisted hands over the center of your skull and muffle your ears with your biceps. 99% of pros land feet first.
5. You've already taken off? There's no turning back now so keep your shoulders loose and use your arms to balance your fall. Shortly before you enter the water, press your arms along your ribs and hips. Enjoy your air time.
6. When you’re rotating in mid air, try to keep an eye on landmarks around you to help your body to orientate itself during its flight. Masters like Orlando Duque keep their eyes closed – out of enjoyment of course!
7. Shortly before diving in, your body should resemble the shape of a nail: sharpen the angle of your feet, so you hit the water’s surface toes first. Interestingly enough, it’s better to hit the surface slightly slanted – this way you’ll slope beneath the layers of water like under a duvet. Important: breathe out through your nose to prevent water jetting up your nostrils and turning your brain into an indoor swimming pool! Heed this advice, especially in salt water.
8. On clammy days, there's no shame in a cliff diver wearing a neoprene wetsuit. This way you can stay in and around the water longer, and you’ll have an extra layer of protection when hitting the surface. This doesn’t mean you can wear sneakers to protect your feet: among cliff divers this is seen as snivelling! After all, it’s a purist’s sport.
9. Never go cliff diving by yourself. Group effort and control is essential. In case of emergency, there’ll always be somebody to help. Plus it's more fun! Also wait for your predecessor to swim out of reach before jumping. If you jump together, let everybody announce where exactly they want to hit the water.
10. Protect your ears: they're exposed to great differences of pressure within a fairly small timeframe. Water in your inner ear can aggravate this problem even more: use some drops of silicone, isopropyl alcohol or olive oil. Your ears will be grateful.
For all the latest in the build-up to the season opener at La Rochelle this weekend, visit redbullcliffdiving.com
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