FAQs
Cliff diving is an elite extreme sport and the ultimate display of focus and skill. In the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, 12 men and 12 women compete at every event to earn maximum championship points.
Launching from a platform height of 27m for male divers and 21m for female competitors, each diver is judged by a panel on their technique, acrobatics and artistic moves during the dive. At the end of every season a champion is crowned in the women's and men's categories and awarded the coveted King Kahekili trophy, as well as a winner's prize fund.
Cliff diving from a launch of point of an average height of 27m high (for male divers) is all about power and balance. It's a calculated risk that requires a lot of practise, especially when conditions vary between each event location.
Height, speed and g-force, as well as aerial awareness, timing and physical strength all play a huge role in executing the perfect dive.
It’s all about the entry when you’re hitting the water at close to ten times the force of gravity and at speeds of up to 85kph.
Divers must coordinate and tense muscles before impact to protect themselves from injury. Immediately after impact with the water, the diver actively dives away to avoid squeezing or twisting their body.
12 divers compete in each of the men’s and women’s competitions: eight permanent divers and up to four wildcards in each category. Each stop runs across two or three days depending on specific conditions, but will always comprise four rounds, with the diving order in the first round determined by a draw ahead of each competition.
Each diver performs in front of an international panel of five judges, bringing together optimal physical skill, mental discipline and focus to execute dives judged on creativity, acrobatic prowess and athletic ability.
Each diver must perform at least one dive during competition to be included in the final result. The dives are scored on take-off, position in the air and entry in the water. The highest and lowest scores are then discarded, with the remaining three intermediate scores multiplied by the Degree of Difficulty for each dive. The order may vary by location, but at every stop each diver must complete:
a Required Dive an Intermediate Dive two Optional Dives.
There's no capped 'Degree of Difficulty' for the Optional dives, and every element of the dive counts. For the optional dives in rounds three and four the order of divers is a reverse starting order based on the previous round's cumulative score.
After all four dives, a female and male winner is declared from the highest points after four dives. Based on their final result, each diver is then awarded points that are tallied and go towards their overall Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series ranking. The dive with the highest score from the judges in both categories received an extra point for the overall ranking.
Ultimately, big points mean big prizes. Every event stop and every dive counts in the fight for the King Kahekili trophies.
Five international judges assess each dive on take-off, position in the air and entry in the water.
Each judge then awards the dive a score from 0 to 10 in half-point increments, with the highest and lowest scores discarded. The winner of any individual stop is the diver with the highest points total after four dives.
The points from each competition are then tallied to produce the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series rankings. All individual competition results count for the World Series overall ranking.
Five judges are selected per stop from a pool of 12 members. Judges for each stop will be chosen based on geographical location of the event and availability.
Anke Piper (GER); Cyrille Oumedjkane (FRA), Julian Llinas (ESP), Simon Latimer (NZL) and Valerio Polazzo (ITA) will be on the judging panel at the Red Bull Cliff Diving Polignano a Mare final in Italy.
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series began in 2009, bringing together the world's top divers to many breathtaking locations across the globe.
Cliff diving as a sport originated in the 1700s in Hawaii, when a Hawaiian chief, King Kahekili, first leapt from the holy cliffs of Kaunolo. The old Hawaiian principles of 'mana' and 'pono' - power and balance - are still upheld today.
There are five dive directions, each of which can also incorporate an axial twisting movement:
Forward - The diver takes off facing the water and rotates forwards. Backward – The diver takes off with their back to the water and rotates backwards. Reverse - The diver takes off facing the water and rotates backwards towards the platform. Inward - The diver takes off with their back to the water and rotates forward towards the platform. Armstand - The diver takes off from the platform in a handstand position.
The main dive positions include, but are not limited to:
Straight – With no bend at the knee or hips. Pike – With knees straight but a tight bend at the hips. Tuck – Body folded up into a tight ball, hands holding the shins and toes pointed. Free position - Body position is optional but the legs should be together and the toes pointed. Flying - ‘Fly’ describes dives consisting of at least one complete somersault performed in the straight position at no less than 90 degrees. The straight position must then be followed by either tuck or pike.
These are the extra elements that help to compose a dive:
Somersault – The diver rotates head over end, forwards, backwards, reverse or inward. The record number of somersaults is currently 5. Twist - A twist involves the diver rotating around a vertical axis that runs from the head to the toes. Up to four revolutions can be performed in competition and it can be performed in all five dive groups. Blind - The last time the diver sees the water is at least half a somersault before entry and so they line up ‘blind’. Barani - One somersault forward rotation with half a twist. Used as an entry manoeuvre, it gives the diver the best view of the water. Water entry – The diver must enter the water feet-first with their arms straight and close to their body.
The final stop of the 2026 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series unfolds and follow Rounds 1-3 in Polignano a Mare, Italy via
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2026 season finale airs on Sunday, September 27 at 1:30 PM CEST/11:30 AM GMT on
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2026 stop in Polignano a Mare, Italy takes place between Friday, 25th September until Sunday, 27th September 2026.
It is the 13th time that Polignano a Mare has hosted the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, and the 15th time the competition has taken place in Italy overall.
Round 1 of the competition takes place from the Amore di Mare balcony in Polignano a Mare.
Rounds 2–4 take place from the 21m and 27m diving platforms at L’Abbate House in Polignano a Mare.
Schedule:
Round 1 - Friday, 25th September 2026 Round 2 & 3 - Saturday 26th September 2026 Round 4 - Sunday 27th September 2026
Anything that's not straight up and down is really going to hurt
Judges
Anke Piper (Germany)
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Antonio Martinez (Mexico)
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Ginger Huber (USA)
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Simon Latimer (New Zealand)
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