Cliff Diving
Dawn of a new age of high diving in the USA
Cliff diver Eleanor Smart is fundraising to help construct America's first high diving facility in Northern Utah this summer.
With platforms from 3m (9ft) up to 27m (90ft), Smart is confident this facility will not only be a game changer for professional high-diving athletes, but it will also be the first in the world where a beginner can come in, learn about high diving and progress their skills up the platforms. We caught up with the 25-year-old to find out more about this exciting project and how people can help to get it off the ground.
What drove you to become involved with this project?
When I decided to pursue high diving a few years back, I realised in the US there are no platforms higher than 10m and nowhere you can go to even learn the basics from lower heights. No coaches to teach you how to do a barani… nothing. I found a bunch of sketchy cliffs to start training from, building up slowly, then went over to the Adrenalin Quarry in England where they at least had a 16m and 20m platform. But in the US, where we don't have anywhere to train, it's really hard to get people involved and grow the sport.
Smart made her World Series debut at the age of 21 in Ireland back in 2017
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
So building this facility will help the sport to develop in the US?
Exactly. We want this sport to make it to the Olympics. I actually run a youth club diving team in Minnesota and I have about 100 divers on my team that I coach every day. A lot of them know what I do and always ask questions and want to learn, and I have a group of about five divers who are really interested in becoming high divers. We came up with a little training plan of how to teach our kids to develop their skills just from 10m and the idea sort of grew from there.
What will this training facility offer for developing young divers and newcomers to the sport?
We're going to be offering a few different things. One, general club teams, so any athlete can come out and train there consistently. Two, we'll be doing some camps and clinics, so anyone who wants to learn more can come out and improve their skills, learning from both the freestyle divers and the technical divers. The third thing we're doing is this high diving experience, where essentially anyone can come in off the street and take a course in which they can progress to diving from up to 12.5m. It's all done under very controlled conditions and if someone likes it they can join a camp and start progressing their skills even higher.
Have any of the other Red Bull Cliff Divers been involved in the project?
When I originally came up with the idea the first person I called was Kyle Mitrione, who's one of the US wildcard divers. He's also been very interested in developing and progressing this sport. I would say he's been a complete partner in this. We're on the phone every day figuring out all the small details. I also talked to Steven LoBue a lot, who's spearheading a similar project in Fort Lauderdale. Joey Zuber, the World Series commentator and former cliff diver, has been really helpful too – just double-checking that we're thinking of all the safety factors and everything that goes into pulling off a safe and effective facility. So, there have been people from all over who have touched this and it's great to see the enthusiasm of everyone about it.
How can people help to turn this from a plan into reality?
We have created a GoFundMe to get this project off the ground and raise the initial funds needed to propel this project forward. Every donation makes a difference and we need your help to make history! All donations will be turned into 'credits' for use at the facility. For example, if you donate $50 now, you will receive $50 off the first clinic or camp you attend. You may also choose to give your donation to our Scholarship Fund. This will enable athletes with financial constraints the opportunity to attend a camp or clinic. If the platform is not built all donations will be refunded.
To find out more about this project or make a donation, please visit America's First High Diving Facility.
What's it like to be a cliff diver?
