Friday was the first day of training in Malcesine ahead of the fifth stop in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. It was also the first time Frenchman Hassan Mouti had done a high dive since his crash in Athens in May.
Here's what Hassan, Kent De Mond and Michal Navratil thought after training:
Hassan Mouti (FRA)
I did my first high dives today since my crash in Athens two months ago. It was really scary in the beginning and I only did easy dives to feel comfortable again. Everything went well and I am happy to be back diving from 27m again. I hope my body feels good enough for more dives, as I am looking forward to the competition very much.
Kent De Mond (USA)
Malcesine is just such an awesome place. You can do so much around here, like sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing and today Gary (Hunt) and I went mountain biking. I enjoyed it so much. We want to go on the gondola maybe tomorrow morning. It’s a fun outdoor kind of place. The location of the platform is really nice, with the hill and the castle. It’s a good place to be high diving.
Michal Navratil (CZE)
When I stepped on the platform today, the distance looked rather short. But when I was in the air, the feeling was completely different and I had to make myself think, it’s really 27m. The difficulty here is not the wind or the temperature but the shadow under the platform. It makes it hard to see where the water is and how far you still have to go. In the practice I did all my dives. The handstand dive I did twice as I was a bit worried about the take-off. I knew what mistakes I made in the first try, went straight up to do it again and did a little bit better in the second one. Now I can sleep well tonight and am ready for the competition.
Saturday will see the first round of competition dives and then the continuation of training. The final rounds of competition will take place on Sunday – watch it live on Red Bull TV from 5.00pm (CEST)
Cliff Diving Italy: Quotes of the Day