The passion and commitment of Frenchman Hassan Mouti for cliff diving is so strong that he even quit his marketing job to become a professional of this extreme sport in 2009. From Strasbourg to the world, his goal for the 2010 season was to finish in the top five and secure a podium finish; regardless of this achievements and results, Hassan’s life will never be the same again. “Cliff diving was not yet so well known by the general public when the World Series started in 2009, but this has started to change. Before the season all my friends called me because my interviews were on every national TV station, on the radio and in the newspapers and I was invited to TV shows,” reveals the French diving champion of 2001 and 2002.
Working hard to become more consistent at each stop, Hassan Mouti does most of his training at the pool using the five and 10-metre platform. At the gym the trampoline is also a key part of his preparation: however, in order to reach his goals, Hassan believes mental training plays a more important role. “To succeed in cliff diving you need to work a lot with your mind,” explains Mouti; he goes as far as saying that his sport is 70% mind and 30% body.
The 31-year-old first came to cliff diving in 2003 when a friend invited him to join the French team for a competition in Acapulco (Mexico). This was certainly a turning point in his sporting life. In 2008, he was 5th and 7th in the Red Bull Cliff Diving competitions at Lake Wolfgang (AUT) and in Hamburg (GER) and has ever since had his eyes on the podium. It’s in Polignano a Mare where the athlete of Moroccan descent has come closest to his goal. Two stops, two fourth places. His motivation remains high and, with new dives in his repertoire and a higher degree of difficulty, Hassan Mouti was fighting for a top-three finish again in 2011.
Unfortunately for the native of Strasbourg, an injury sustained during training for the World Series' third stop in Athens saw his season cut short. Mouti was attempting an ambitious new dive, a quint half, but a bad landing saw him miss the subsequent competition and he later decided to take a break from cliff diving and refocus his energies for the 2012 Qualification Competition.
