Diving from 40ft in a foot high pool

September 4th, 2008

Professor Splash, whom’s real name is Darren Taylor is going to try to land safely in a pool no higher than one foot when jumping of a 40 ft platform. He will reach speeds of up to 30 mph before the water breaks his fall and this record attempt will be broadcasted on live television from Hollywood on the Jimmy Kimmel show on US network ABC on Sept 12.

Denver’s Darren Taylor is a former strip-club DJ has a different way of diving as enters the water on his belly with his limps stretched. He says “I study a lot of video, and I transform myself into a different being. I become rock hard, I feel no pain,” he said. This technique however is not one to try at home. “Thirty three feet was the height of the first jump,” he said. “I jumped ‘out’, instead of ‘up’, and I landed in the front of the pool on my face! It hurt, and it did scare me.”

The pain did now stop him though as Taylor set the current shallow diving record anyways and brought it to 35 ft and 5 in. The new record attempt is to go upto 40 ft.

Taylor is 47 years old but has not yet had enough of the diving. In the upcoming three years – untill his ‘retirement’ at 50 – he plans to do three more deadly diving records. Taylor used to compete professionally as a high diver untill he realised that shallow diving could get him into the record books.

Like said before, this is not something to do at home, but if you want to become a shallow divers, Taylor advises you to show commitment and work on your technique all the time. “For your life’s sake, jump straight up, jump out, and make damn sure you land flat enough to blacken your chest and legs,” he said. “You must stay completely focused on your ‘flight plan’, or it could lead to your death. I never forget at anytime what could happen if this dive goes bad.”