“I paid my four bits to see the high-divin’ act, and I’m a-gonna see the high-divin’ act!”
Darren Taylor, a “shallow diver” from the U.S. who also goes by the name “Professor Splash,” recently set a new world record by swan-diving 36 feet into a pool filled with just 12 inches of water. For some reason, the Professor decided to set the record in the icy outdoors of Trondheim, Norway; perhaps the freezing cold helps numb the pain of going gut-first into a foot of water from three stories up.
Whatever the reason, the record Taylor eclipsed was his own. He’s actually made 13 Guinness-certified dives in his 25 years of high-diving experience. “The real big trick with this dive is to land flat, try to get as much water out of this pool as I can,” he explained. “I want to dissipate as much water as I can for a cushion effect.”
I guess it’s mission accomplished, since he didn’t die or suffer any obvious grievous injuries, but man, that splatting sound is going to stay with me forever.
Source: BBC
