Photo: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — David Colturi admits that falling almost a hundred feet into water is not most people's idea of a fun time.
"It’s a little bit of a mix of bravery and a screw loose up in the head," Colturi said.
But as a professional cliff diver, taking the plunge is not some thrill-seeking hobby, it is his living.
"People think that we’re just these adrenaline junkies that are just throwing caution to the wind, but this is a lifetime of training," said Colturi.
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Colturi was one of two dozen divers taking part in the 2024 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series at the Boston Seaport on Saturday. He dove 90 feet off the roof of the Institute of Contemporary Art into the chilly waters of Boston Harbor down below. His final dive was back triple somersaults with three twists, otherwise known as a triple triple.
"It’s like a ninth story building, so if you’re ever in the ninth floor of a hotel or an apartment building and you get to look over the patio, it’s pretty crazy," Colturi said.
Photo: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
An important part of the process is not thinking about what could go wrong.
"The consequences are severe, if not fatal," Colturi said.
So what does it actually feel like to dive from that high up?
"It’s kinda this moment of bliss, honestly," Colturi told WBZ NewsRadio. "Like, you take off and you’re flying through the air, it really does feel like an existential release into the world."
Canadian diver Molly Carlson, who as a female entrant only had to dive from 70 feet, also sees diving as momentary freedom from the anxiety she suffers in everyday life.
"When I jump off that platform, my brain is silent for the first time ever," Carlson said. "So it’s just me in the air for four seconds and it’s the most peaceful thing."
Carlson told WBZ that the fear of diving never goes away, you just get more comfortable with it.
"You learn the skills and the coping skills to be able to handle that much fear and you just do your dive," said Carlson.
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (@WBZSausville) reports.
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