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AWARDS AND TROPHIES

Extreme diving in Switzerland (project)

Trophäen für gewinner des Hohes Tauchen

Do you like a shot of adrenaline in your blood? Find out more about high diving! Just watching divers jump from the height of a skyscraper makes your skin suffer! What it is, the origins of this extreme sport and what the trophies we had the pleasure of making for the competitors in Switzerland looked like – you can find out in this article. 

What is high diving?

High diving, or jumping into the water from great heights, can be treated as an extreme sport, a stunt or part of a competition. During the competition, men jump from a platform 22-27 metres high, women 18-23 metres. High diving made its debut at the 2013 World Swimming Championships in Barcelona. However, jumping into the water from high cliffs was known much earlier. The first mention dates back to 1770, when the king of Maui (Hawaii) forced his warriors to jump to prove their courage and loyalty.

Initially, the sport was practically only trained by gymnasts and jumped from great heights. The element of water as a safety base was only added later. Due to a lack of training sites – divers started jumping using various infrastructure elements (bridges, ships, buildings) or natural terrain (e.g. cliffs).

In high diving, a distinction can be made between three types: pool diving (there is the only permanent platform in Austria for this sport), open-air diving and cliff diving (the most dangerous).

The men’s and women’s World Championships are held in high diving. In addition to this event, there is also the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series every year, which attracts thousands of fans due to the spectacular nature of the sport. Participants jump from various locations – castles, cliffs, towers, bridges and even the Copenhagen Opera House.

High diving – what’s worth knowing?

  • The prerequisite for becoming a high altitude diver is several years of experience in diving or a similar acrobatic sport. The ability to make quick decisions, sober risk assessment, courage and good physical preparation are also necessary. Most high divers reach the required conditions (physical and mental) around the age of 30,
  • High diving is a high-risk sport. When entering the water, the body is exposed to tremendous force, this often leads to injury and limits the ability to repeat dives multiple times in one training session. 
  • When entering the water, the diver must stretch the muscles as much as possible to avoid the twisting of the body that can occur when part of the body slows down underwater and part remains in full momentum. 
  • The world lacks professional places where high divers can practise. The only permanent platform is in Austria, but it is closed during the winter. 
  • Performing an emergency landing into the water from a height of 26 m can be compared to the force with which a person is hit when jumping into the street from a height of 13 m.

Trophy for divers – produced by Modern Forms

Trophy for high diving competition

The Infinite Drop High Diving Association was founded in December 2018 in Switzerland. It is a team of people responsible for organising High Diving competitions, shows and events. In July 2022, the association organised the annual International Cliff Diving Championships. The competition took place in Ponte Brolla, Switzerland. 33 competitors from 11 different countries took part in the event. Modern Forms had the pleasure of making the trophies for the winners for this extreme diving competition. 

 

Our studio created 6 unique trophies personalised by place (1st, 2nd, 3rd place in the women’s and men’s categories). Each trophy was created with 3 panels: 2 printed stainless steel panels and 1 centre panel made of clear acrylic with a printed silhouette of a diver. All panels were set on a wooden base, which also featured a colourful print of the logo, the name of the competition and personalisation by location.