Cliff-diving in Havana: Death-defying leaps

HAVANA — Recently, this capital has welcomed visitors who, in the words of German existentialist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), are in that group of humans who, because they don’t fear death, “they find pleasure in gambling with their lives.”

Thus, we have Alain Robert, the French spider-man who kept half the city in suspense by climbing the exterior of our majestic Hotel Habana Libre.

Then there’s Diana Nyad, the American swimmer who — against the wind, tide, sharks and polluted waters — swam from Havana to Key West. And let’s not forget the anonymous tourists who rent a car and speed away on dangerous highways.

With the passing of time, we Cubans are getting used to the big thrills generated by risky sports and other activities that, while not in the realm of sports, are considered to be extremely dangerous.

A 10-meter-long, 4-meter-high platform has been built for the bold divers who, on May 9-10, will make acrobatic leaps into Havana Bay, with the Morro Castle in the background. It is said that after the Italian builder Juan Bautista Antonelli constructed the fortress in 1589, he billed the King of Spain, and that an aide to Felipe II ordered a telescope for his master. “Something this expensive should be visible from the Kingdom of Spain,” the aide allegedly said.

Havana residents should not miss this event, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. Its national and international organizers are aware that it will be historic.

Those in the know say that if a dive exceeds 20 meters (ours will be 27 meters), a bad impact against the water could be the equivalent of smashing into a concrete wall, as competitor Orlando Duque once found out. The experienced Colombian will try it again, saying that “what’s interesting is to try new things.”

Someone once measured Duque’s speed: in only 2.5 seconds, he hit the water at 90 miles per hour. Lovers of baseball know what that means.

Havana residents have been following the singular event closely. For several weeks now, a young sports journalist, Héctor Villar, has been bringing us — on Havana Channel — previews of the event and by now everybody must have decided how he (or she) will watch it: on giant screens or with the naked eye.

Only one Cuban is directly involved in the affair. It is a former diver, today the national Diving Commissioner at the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER), who will be one of the judges who, from a boat, will rate each dive.

To show the danger the competitors face, that judge told Villar that, when he was an active diver, he never exceeded a 10-meter leap. “If the height was even 2 centimeters beyond 10 meters, I refused to dive,” he said.

The preparations at the Morro are going well. The divers will leap into the sea from the west side, not — as some thought — from the channel leading to the bay. The reason: on the channel side, the waters are too shallow for those human missiles.

The diving board was erected on the esplanade at the foot of the lighthouse. It is not bolted to the ground, so as not to damage the fortress. Instead, a system of weights keeps the tower standing.

Previous competitions of extreme diving have been staged at ancient European castles or famous cliffs, such as the ones in La Rochelle, France, in 2011, and Malcesine, Italy, last year. So, our Morro Castle has joined those two old fortresses as the venue for the sixth world series of cliff diving.

We must wait for many surprises and more information about the seven participants and four guests who have expressed interest in coming to Havana to enjoy the sightseeing while doing their spectacular, death-defying dives.

The sixth edition of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series will begin in Havana this weekend and end in Brazil next October, after a circuit that will include Texas, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and Spain. The man to defeat is Russian Artem Silchenko. Challengers include Duque and Gary Hunt of Britain.

The musical group that entertains tourists and other visitors to the Morro Castle has already composed a “guarachita” promoting the event. That’s Cuban hospitality for you.