The Mentor
Slava Polyeshchuk is a veteran among high diving athletes and, at 43, uses his considerable experience to coach up-and-coming Cliff Divers.
Slava began cliff diving in Belgium in 1994 and his greatest success as a diver came two years later when he won the Cliff Diving World Cup.
Dividing his time between his birthplace in the Ukraine and his country of residence, Italy, Slava's life still revolves around cliff diving – in his role as both instructor and athlete – but a wealth of competition experience means Polyeshchuk approaches the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2010 with his, now customary, calmness.
Preferring not to train too much ahead of the event, his preparation centres around the swimming pool and diving from a classic 10m board.
The 43 points he accrued in 2009 saw Slava tied in eighth place with American Kent de Mond in the overall rankings.
