That a man called Kent has a talent for flying through the air wearing little more than a pair of red trunks should surprise no-one, but American cliff diver Kent De Mond could still turn a few heads at the 2010 World Series.
The 27-year-old, who has been tipped by Gary Hunt to challenge Orlando Duque for the title this year, cannot wait for the competition proper to get underway on Saturday after completing the final day of training in France on Friday.
De Mond said: “La Rochelle’s probably the best stop in the whole series. It’s definitely the best location with these amazing medieval towers and it’s got the biggest crowds. It should be the finals really. Everything beside the temperature, it’s really awesome here.”
'You’ll see some new dives from me and then we’ll see whether Gary’s right!' – Kent
“It’s pretty cool that Gary said I could challenge for the title. I did a lot better towards the end of last season because I did some more difficult dives and actually in the finals in Greece I got third place as Artem and Gary ended up beating me. I actually beat Orlando for the first time in Greece which was really awesome. There are some divers though who have added more dives to their list so if I want to get in those top spots I have to up my degree of difficulty as well. In the next stop or two you’ll see some new dives from me but we’ll just have to see if Gary’s right!”
Luxembourg’s Alain Kohl, meanwhile, admitted he was worried before hitting his one and only dive in training. The 27-year-old, who has given up his old job as a prison guard to turn professional, tried the same dive he attempted a week earlier in Austria – fortunately with a very different end result.
'I was really scared...if you go over at 27m you can get a concussion' – Kohl
“I did an optional dive yesterday [Thursday] and today [Friday] I did a flying front. I was a bit scared because last week I did one in Austria and I went over. I was really scared because if you go over on a flying front at 27m you can get a concussion. I landed a bit on purpose on my back, on my ass, to get the feeling again to sit down after the somersault and my self-esteem went up again.
“My main goal is not a position but improving my diving because I know I’m way under my level. I didn’t have the time to improve last year because I was still working but now I’m just focusing on my professional career. I turned pro two weeks ago and now I just want to get better.”
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