Most of you have probably seen it. Videos of people jumping, horizontally, belly first, first from cliffs or platforms, or doing tricks in the air, and just before they hit the water, tuck into a cannonball or shrimp position. Some of you might even have done it yourself. This extreme discipline of high diving is dødsing, translating to “deathing”, or “death diving”.
I have been intrigued for a while, and now, living in the country of its origin, I felt it was time to learn it. But before I write about my experience, let’s take a quick dive into the history of dødsing. The first dødsing is assumed to have been performed in 1972 at Frognerbadet, a pool complex in Oslo. Since then, people around Oslo have challenged themselves and others to perform døds from the 10m dive platform. In the coming decades, it gained recognition and popularity outside the capital and eventually worldwide, leading to the first international championship in 2008 in Oslo. Ever since then, it has been held annually, attracting over 5000 spectators every year.
Dødsing is performed in two main disciplines, classic and freestyle. While in classic you jump to lie in a horizontal position as long as you can, in freestyle tricks are performed. An individual style is highly encouraged. In both disciplines, you land either with the feet and hands, or elbows and knees to avoid injury. Or merely hit the water harder than it hits you!
The record holders for the highest døds executed are Norwegian Asbjørg Nesje with an astonishing 30.5 meters and Lucien Charlon with 41.7 meters.
Without further ado, let’s jump into my experience.
I started practising from a solid meter. However, I encountered a few challenges stopping me from trying a higher platform. First, jumping in a horizontal position. I almost immediately formed a shrimp position, afraid I was going to do a bellyflop. Second, not tucking my head properly between my shoulders. Even from a meter, it hurt my head, hitting it frontal. Third, it occurred cohesively with closing too early, rotating in the air, and landing on my back.
Nevertheless, I kept practising from one meter until I felt ready to conquer three meters. I will be honest; I was hesitating on the platform, three meters might not seem high, but jumping horizontally felt unnatural. Yet, after jumping once and not suffering pain, I gained confidence and did a few more before I felt ready for five meters. Like the prior, it took me a little time to jump, but managing the first døds well, I felt the thrill and adrenaline. This was the moment I understood why people are obsessed with it. While my døds are far from perfect and still need improving before I go any higher, dødsing is the ideal sport for every thrill seeker. But, safety first, if you feel like giving it a try, start from a meter or even the edge of the pool. And always make sure you are not alone.
Leave a Reply