Steven LoBue (USA) takes first victory ever at Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series stop in Wales, UK
Saturday’s penultimate stop of the 2012 World Series was a debut in many regards. It was the first stop on British soil, showed the highest standard of diving that the competition has seen so far and brought a new winner to the podium – the 2012 qualifier from Muncie, Indiana, only arrived late for the first round of competition but stepped on to the 27.5m platform fresh from the airport. He completed his diving programme with an average score of 8.5 and won ahead of Colombian Orlando Duque, who leads the overall standings going into the grand final. Warm and sunny weather drew more than 3,300 spectators to the ‘Blue Lagoon’ in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, and saw the judges pull out the 10 a total of four times.
Steven LoBue is a small man with big aims and at the last-but-one stop, the 27-year-old claimed the first World Series win for an American cliff diver. He added his name to the exclusive winners’ list alongside Orlando Duque, Gary Hunt and Artem Silchenko. And all that after he’d missed his flight from the US to Europe and had a late start to the competition: “Your goal when you enter every competition is to win but everybody else is thinking the same thing. To be doing as well as I was doing earlier this year and then to follow it up with this victory is incredible. I was the last one in and the first one out! It’s by far the best list of dives I’ve ever had and to hold it down is pretty special. I’m delighted with my performance and having figured some things out last year, I’ve been gaining more experience. Now I want to carry it forward,” said a delighted first-time winner. With his fourth consecutive second-placed finish, Orlando Duque remains the most consistent athlete during the current season, beating Gary Hunt by 7.05pts. The Englishman was especially motivated to win in front of his home crowd, but missed with his usually effective ‘Triple Quad’.
In rather unusually great Welsh weather conditions more than 3,300 spectators in boats, kayaks and on land came to see three UK divers – Leeds’ Matthew Cowen was awarded a last-minute wildcard entry after the judges and sports director saw his performance off the eight storey-high platform – performing to please both the judging panel and the home crowd at the former quarry in south-west Wales. The ‘Blue Lagoon’ provided a Colosseum-like atmosphere in the middle of idyllic farmland and sheep fields.
During the sixth stop the World Series’ points-scratch system came into play. According to this new rule the divers can cancel their worst two dives – out of seven individual competition results. With one more competition to come, not only the top five, who automatically qualify for the 2013 edition, but also the battle for the title of Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion, is still fiercely fought. The winner will be decided on the Arabian Peninsula in three weeks’ time when the Sultanate of Oman hosts the grand final.
RED BULL CLIFF DIVING WORLD SERIES 2012
The best cliff divers in the world versus gravity. Twisting and flipping 27 metres through the air and hitting the water after three seconds at 85kph. Three years after its inception, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series is established as the pinnacle of high diving competition. In 2012 this unique championship will once more be the platform for the world’s most dizzying dives in seven stops between June and September in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Eleven athletes will compete head-to-head for the prestigious World Series title and spread the spirit of cliff diving all over the globe.