Overview
Red Bull's most adrenaline-filled sport is diving into Auckland, making its New Zealand debut for the first time in its 14-year history.
The finale of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series will take place across two days from Saturday, November 18–Sunday, November 19 at Auckland's Wynyard Quarter. The free two-day event is expected to draw a crowd of more than 30,000 people, who will watch 24 of the globe's best divers fling themselves off a 27-metre platform into the Waitematā Harbour in an attempt to secure the cliff-diving crown.
Ahead of the Auckland final, competitors have been leaping off tall objects in six countries across the world. The series began in Boston, where divers flung themselves off the Institute of Contemporary Art into the wharf below. It then moved onto Paris, with the dive taking place close to the Eiffel Tower, before heading to Italy, Japan and Bosnia before hitting New Zealand.
The task is seemingly simple: a leap from a 27-metre or 21-metre platform (depending on whether you're competing in the women's or men's competition), a few mid-flight aerobic tricks, then finishing off with a feet-first entry into the water at around 85 kilometres per hour.
Scores are awarded to each diver using an out-of-ten points system, with judges considering the diver's launch from the platform, placement in the air, creativity of the dive, acrobatic talent, athletic ability and finally their entry into the water. Once each diver's score has been awarded by the judges, the lowest and highest are discarded, with the remaining scores then added together. This number is multiplied by the degree of difficulty of the dive, which is a formula that adds together the different components of a dive. This final number is the diver's overall score.
Former New Zealand springboard and platform diving champion Simon Latimer will be sitting on the judging panel, alongside four others from around the world: Anke Piper from Germany, Jeff Arbon from Australia, Cyrille Oumedjkane from France and Olivier Morneau from Canada.
"I'm stoked to be judging the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series finale on home turf," Latimer said. "It will be an epic weekend and an amazing opportunity for Kiwis to get a glimpse of the world-famous event. The talent lineup is incredible, and it's especially awesome to see a Kiwi in the mix."
The other Kiwi that Latimer is referring to is Braden Rumpit. Despite being a New Zealand citizen, Rumpit will be visiting to Aotearoa for the first time to compete in the diving series.
"It's pretty exciting that my first time will be for such a special occasion," he said. "It feels like a full circle moment — returning to the homeland of my family to do what I love most."
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series will take place at Auckland's Wynyard Quarter on Saturday, November 18–Sunday, November 19.