The ‘death dive’ is what can only be described as an extreme jump, made from a dizzying height – and it’s the latest dangerous trend gaining followers on TikTok.
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Videos of people jumping from great heights and voluntarily somersaulting into the deep blue have gone viral.
Asbjorg Nesje, a young Norwegian, is behind several viral videos in which she is seen catapulting herself from high surfaces, occasionally doing acrobatics.
His latest dip alone garnered 42.5 million views.
In the clip, Asbjorg Nesje leaps from a wooden platform at a height of 81ft (the highest Olympic diving board is around 33ft) and spirals down for several seconds before splashing in the waters below.
Stunned viewers demanded confirmation that Nesje was safe and sound, prompting the diver to upload another angle of the jump that clearly shows her landing and exiting the water.
People are clearly fascinated by these distressing videos, which have been viewed over 253 million times on TikTok so far, and all of which come with a safety warning.
But these divers don’t want to die. Most of them are, in fact, professional extreme athletes. These terrifying jumps originated in Norway, where the sport is called dødsing.
This sport was created in Norway in the early 1970s to allow men to show off in front of women, explains champion Anders Rox.
Dødsing is officially controlled by the Dødsing Federation, which sets guidelines and world rankings and has hosted the World Championships in August every year since 2008.
And, indeed, Nesje won the 2021 and 2022 Dødsing Women’s Championships after joining the sport in 2020. She is currently ranked 33rd globally.
The highest-ranked American is Harrison Wells, who sits in 12th place, behind 11 Norwegian athletes.
The Dødsing Federation lists three main criteria for scoring a good jump: momentum, take-off and landing.
The run-up is judged by speed and power, which usually comes from a one-foot jump. For flight, the “døds must be harmonious in the air and appear as controlled at all times”, whether it is a classic or free jump.
A classic døds includes “simple movements”, without full rotations, while a freestyle døds should contain rotations and other “tweaks.”
The thrilling sport has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to viral videos that amaze viewers and cheer daredevils around the world, but some fear it’s sparking a dangerous new trend on TikTok.
The impact of hitting the surface of the water is akin to blunt object trauma, and somersaults on your stomach have been known to cause severe bruising and, in the most severe cases, injury. internal.
However, professionals have defined three safe landings for death diving: shrimp (hands and feet first), crusher (elbows and knees first), and no-hander (head and knees first).
Divers Emil Lybekk and Anders Rox, who are currently ranked fourth and ninth respectively in the world, have posted a video on YouTube in which they share their tips and tricks for the perfect death dive.
Professional stunt performers warn swimmers not to hesitate or second-guess themselves once they start running, then to close their bodies and get into one of the landing positions as late as possible.
“It’s about going out and having fun with your friends and doing fun things,” Anders Rox says in the tutorial.
“And never use a wetsuit,” Emil Lybekk tells his fellow daredevils.