# Red Bull high diving competition question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619 "2019-02-15T18:13:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/1 "2019-02-15T18:13:51Z")
I was in a bar and the Red Bull high diving competition on was on television. They were in Columbia and the divers were jumping (27 meters, if I recall) from a platform into some harbor or natural body of water outdoors. The thing that caught my attention was the safety divers waiting in the water. Three of them would dive down immediately after the diver hit the water, to check on him and rescue if needed. The competitor would surface, followed soon by the rescue divers who looked for the OK signal from the competitor. Then one of the rescue divers would hand the competitor what I think was a balled up drying towel – the small but super absorbent type used by swimmers – and then the competitor would go to the ladder and climb out onto the dock. Why would they have a safety person hand him a wet towel in the water, instead of having a stack waiting by the ladder on the dock, or having someone waiting there to hand it to him? Seemed an odd detail in their procedure. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/2 "2019-02-15T18:57:38Z")
How did the rescue diver keep the towel dry? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/3 "2019-02-15T19:06:01Z")
> [@Dingbang](#): > > Why would they have a safety person hand him a wet towel in the water, instead of having a stack waiting by the ladder on the dock, or having someone waiting there to hand it to him? Seemed an odd detail in their procedure. Divers ever lose a suit? (a guess) ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/4 "2019-02-15T19:13:47Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > How did the rescue diver keep the towel dry? It wasn’t dry. He pulled it out of a pocket or pouch or something I couldn’t see underwater, and it was soaked when he handed it to the guy. That’s probably not a big problem since those towels are made to be wrung out and then used again. My curiosity is about why they’d hand it to him then, wet or dry. (I’m presuming I have this right about what the rescue diver was handing him. I never saw a competitor actually use it to dry off once he climbed out of the water.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/5 "2019-02-15T19:16:33Z")
Here’s a link to a full broadcast of one competition from 2018. Can you see the same handoff in this video? I watched the first 10 minutes or so but it looked like the divers just swam to the waiting jet ski and climbed on the sled themselves without receiving anything from the rescue divers. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ed4QWB0z6f8/maxresdefault.jpg "REPLAY Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2018 Italy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed4QWB0z6f8) ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/6 "2019-02-15T19:27:46Z")
[quote=“Telemark, post:5, topic:829619”] Here’s a link to a full broadcast of one competition from 2018. Can you see the same handoff in this video? I watched the first 10 minutes or so but it looked like the divers just swam to the waiting jet ski and climbed on the sled themselves without receiving anything from the rescue divers. [/QUOTE] 14:47. Looks like the same handoff. Didn’t watch past that. ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/7 "2019-02-15T19:41:59Z")
This is a compilation clip from the competition I saw: [https://www.redbull.com/ro-ro/videos/highlights-from-cliff-diving-in-colombia](https://www.redbull.com/ro-ro/videos/highlights-from-cliff-diving-in-colombia) At 0:15 you see a quick shot of a competitor just after taking the item from the safety diver and he pumps his fist with it in his hand. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/8 "2019-02-15T20:40:31Z")
> [@Dingbang](#): > > 14:47. Looks like the same handoff. Didn’t watch past that. She throws in on the sled, then you see her use it to towel off when headed on land. There are other divers that don’t take the towel offered, in this case she reaches out and takes the towel being held by the rescue diver. So it’s clearly not a safety thing. As a former diver (springboard, not high diver) it’s handy to have a towel available to wipe off the excess water when exiting to dry land. But you’d think it would be easier to just have them on the sled rather than make the diver throw the towel on the sled. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/9 "2019-02-15T20:56:56Z")
A couple of the later divers in that footage seem to be handed towels and their footwear. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/10 "2019-02-15T20:57:55Z")
Maybe the diver throws it down to the rescue people before their jump? ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/11 "2019-02-15T20:59:54Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Maybe the diver throws it down to the rescue people before their jump? Ah, that actually makes a bit more sense, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s their own personal towel and/or footwear. I bet that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/12 "2019-02-15T21:44:51Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Maybe the diver throws it down to the rescue people before their jump? If you look at 1:45 on the first linked video, the diver (woman in black suit) does exactly that - throws down her footwear & a towel from the platform, and then the safety diver hands it back to her at 2:45 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/13 "2019-02-15T23:21:47Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > If you look at 1:45 on the first linked video, the diver (woman in black suit) does exactly that - throws down her footwear & a towel from the platform, and then the safety diver hands it back to her at 2:45 or so. How did I miss that?! ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-bull-high-diving-competition-question/829619/14 "2019-02-18T17:40:56Z")
Thanks for helping solve this. I can rest easy now.