It was a day of firsts for Charles-Antoine Labadie. First dive in a natural environment. First presence on the Red Bull Cliff Diving circuit. And above all, first meeting with his idol, the ex-diver Alexandre Despatie.
“It’s great that one of my idols comes to watch me dive,” Labadie said at the end of the training day. “A few years ago, it was the opposite.”
If Labadie dives, it is because he admired Despatie doing it, more than 12 years ago. Around the age of 6, Labadie was introduced to diving. He then joined the CAMO club via a sports-study program in the fourth year of elementary school. It was not until around the age of 13 that he made his debut in high diving.
It may seem like it, but when you go from a 10-meter platform to a 27-meter platform, the sport changes radically. Labadie’s transition is therefore impressive. And that’s true even for a two-time Olympic silver medalist.
“Mentally, it’s a whole load that increases,” comments Alexandre Despatie, in an interview with The Press. You can’t have a moment of inattention. Sometimes we would go from 3 to 5 meters, and I could feel that it was a huge difference.”
Before the training sessions began on Friday, Alexandre Despatie climbed up to the 27-metre platform. He went all the way, leaned over, imagined jumping.
It made me realize how complex this sport is. What they do is completely crazy.
Alexandre Despatie
Alexandre Despatie has only jumped 25 metres once. “I was on holiday, with a few nice cold beers. I think you get the idea,” he shares, laughing.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
A diver performs in front of the crowd.
Regardless of his condition, Despatie remains an accomplished diver. Despite this, the day after his stunt, he felt significant pain in his ribs.
“However, I had only landed a little bit on the side. This is proof that in sport, the margin of maneuver is minimal. A bad jump can quickly become catastrophic, knowing that you enter the water at between 75 and 80 km/h.”
Festive atmosphere
The differences between the sports go beyond the technical. In high diving, the crowd participates. It is felt when the athletes take the plunge.
“Here, it’s a party, everyone is very relaxed,” notes Alexandre Despatie. “It comes with a show side that is quite unique.”
Despatie also had the chance to compete outdoors in Montreal, at Parc Jean-Drapeau. “It was beautiful, but it’s still the more conventional structure that we know: the whistle, the silence, the clear water. That’s really not what Charles-Antoine will experience: he’ll be able to dive in front of tens of thousands of spectators.”
The attitude of the divers also differs. In high flight, it is common to see participants filming themselves on the platform to feed their social networks just before performing.
This is a far cry from the 2004 Athens Olympics, when Alexandre Despatie had to go to a computer centre to check his emails throughout the competition.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
The atmosphere at the Red Bull Cliff Diving events is very different from that of the Olympic diving competitions.
“The divers here have an unreal ability to compartmentalize things in their heads. Before the dives, they chat, they play on their phones, they wave to the crowd. And all of a sudden, all the doors close in their heads, and they manage to perform. It’s fascinating.”
With all the distractions on site, Alexandre Despatie has only one piece of advice for Charles-Antoine Labadie: enjoy the moment. When he looks back on his 14-year career, he realizes that it all went by in the blink of an eye.
Opportunity to shine
Despite the great moments he will experience, Charles-Antoine Labadie must keep a cool head. The next two days of competition will be decisive. Participating in a Red Bull Cliff Diving event represents an incredible opportunity for him. With a good performance, he could be invited back to the circuit in 2025. His ultimate dream would be to become a figure there as a permanent diver.
Labadie didn’t have the luxury of spending several weeks of mental preparation for the event, since he learned he would be part of it a week and a half ago. His team had sent a portfolio including videos of his most recent dives, hoping that it would help him make his way into the competition.
The judges had better watch out, because Labadie, the youngest participant, plans to add a degree of difficulty to the jumps presented in his entry.
My goals for this competition are not about my position in the ranking. They are about me: I want to do four good dives.
Charles-Antoine Labadie
Great minds think alike. His idol, without even broaching the subject with him, perceives the situation in the same way.
“I don’t think he’s here to win: he’s not there yet,” dissects Alexandre Despatie. “He must above all look at what others are doing and bring that back with him. I hope that the competition will be a great spark that will allow him to accomplish even more extraordinary things.”