Back-to-back stops in Puglia this coming week will round off the 2021 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series as Polignano a Mare hosts a high diving double header, including the season finale.
24 of the world's best cliff divers best will plunge into the Adriatic Sea from a height of up to 27 metres as they battle for the King Kahekili trophy, including Italy’s Alessandro De Rose the only Italian ever to compete in the competition.
Australia’s Rhiannan Ifflan will be hoping to claim a fifth World Series title. She has the form. At the last stop in Ireland she blew her rivals out of the water with a perfect dive earning five 10s for the first time in her career, the first woman to achieve this feat.
In the men’s competition eight time Champion Gary Hunt will be looking to secure another Championship title in Polignano where he won his 7th title in 2018.
Seven stops from the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in 11 years have helped rubber stamp Polignano’s reputation as the sport's European home.
To give the event some Red Bull wings the plan is for at least one round to be completed directly from the balcony of one of Polignano’s famous houses that rise from the rocks, before the divers return to the standard platforms.
The main spectacle is of course the diving but second and third places belong to the views of spectators surrounding the take-off spot on land and water and the unique route to the platforms.
Divers emerge from the water, negotiate a crowded beach and walk barefoot through Polignano’s bustling old town before finally, via a private living room, arriving at the platforms mounted on a rooftop terrace at 27 and 21 metres above the sea.
Where | Lama Monachile beach, Polignano a Mare
When | Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 September 12:15 - 15:00 (penultimate stage) | Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 September 12:15 - 15:00 (final stage).
More | Red Bull Cliff Diving 2021 Series official site | our guide to Polignano a Mare, what to see and where to eat.
This sounds like such a fun event to witness! I love the pictures of the divers walking through the streets to get back up to the platform. But the color of that turquoise water, it is just stunning!