Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series kicks off at St. Pete Pier for only US stop

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Divers from around the world plunged into the water in St. Pete on Friday as the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series made its debut in Florida.

St. Pete is one of six stops on the international series.

Red Bull cliff diving competition

By the numbers:

The event is bringing 12 women and 12 men from across the globe to compete at the St. Pete Pier this weekend.

Women are diving from a 70-foot platform, and the men are diving from a 90-foot platform.

Unlike traditional diving where athletes enter hands first, these cliff divers hit the water feet first at speeds around 53 mph.

Event organizers say the water ranges from 12 feet to 15 feet deep.

The global competition features athletes from a number of different countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Switzerland and New Zealand.

St. Pete is the second of six stops in the international series, following a competition in Bali a couple of weeks ago.

Divers are judged based on execution, synchronization and artistic impression. At the end of the season, each diver's points are all added up to determine a winner.

History in motion

What they're saying:

Divers competing in this weekend's event say the sport brings out a healthy fear and a rush of adrenaline every time they climb up to the platform.

"I've been high diving since 2018, and that was mostly in shows, so there wasn't as much training in that," Lisa Faulkner, a cliff diver with the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, said. "It was kind of just throwing yourself off but making sure you were going at the right count. So, this is a little bit different, and I really enjoy it because there is a lot more training that goes into it and lot more lower training and what we call 'lead-ups' for the bigger dives."

The event drew some legends in the sport, including high diver Lynn Walko Terpstra, who set a women's world record in 1983 at 113 feet.

"It's just amazing the level that these kids have taken this sport to," Walko Terpstra said. "We did somersaults that were single or double, at the most. Of course, this one did reverse triple, but these kids are doing five somersaults, inward four somersaults. It's insane."

American champion and high dive record setter Dana Kunze was also in attendance on Friday.

"When we were doing it, it was mainly United States, Mexico, Canada where it was televised," Kunze said. "These kids now are doing these things, as we've seen, all over the world."

Saturday schedule

What's next:

The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series continues with the final rounds on Saturday.

Admission is free for spectators and the schedule for Saturday is below:

• 11:00 a.m. – Doors open
• 12:30 p.m. – Pre-show
• 1:00 p.m. – Red Bull live TV
• 1:10 p.m.– Women's finals
• 2:00 p.m. – Men's finals
• 2:45 p.m. – Awards ceremony

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