‘High diving’ 10 stories into an apartment building…”I risked my life”
Do you know what it means to jump into the water from 27 meters, 10 stories above the ground? Meet Choi Byung-hwa, Korea’s first and only ‘high diver,’ who went on to compete in the world championships.
Kim Hyung-yeol is a reporter.
<Reporter
‘High diving’ is derived from the extreme sport of ‘cliff diving’, where women jump into the water from a height of 20 meters and men from a height of 27 meters, which is equivalent to the 10th floor of an apartment building.
The risk of injury is high and there are no specialized facilities, making it a barren sport in Korea, but Choi Byung-hwa was the first to take up the challenge.
In 2016, at the age of 25, Choi Byung-hwa, who was not even a diver, fell in love with the sport and became the only Korean diver to take up the sport.
[Choi Byung-hwa/Hydiver: The height itself is intimidating, but when I remind myself that this is the space where I’m supposed to perform, and that I and my body remember what I’m supposed to do, that 27 meters doesn’t seem like 27 meters].
I went abroad at my own expense to learn techniques, and during the pandemic, when I couldn’t go abroad, I traveled the country looking for places to dive.
Once I jumped off the cliffs I found, I had to climb them again, but I didn’t get tired and jumped again, and I didn’t give up on my dream even though I couldn’t become a national team member because there was no domestic competition. 스포츠토토
[Choi Byung-hwa/Hybrid: I came to this point by blowing up my savings account, blowing up my house, blowing up my car, and organizing my possessions one by one].
After dramatically qualifying for the World Championships in Fukuoka in his first World Cup appearance in May, Choi is preparing to make a historic first jump on May 25, the first ever by a South Korean athlete.