BOSTON — These athletes are on edge. The edge of an art museum in Boston, that is.
Cliff Diving’s big event comes to central New England on Saturday as the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series makes the 100th stop in its history. Participants dive from the Institute of Contemporary Art up to 90 feet in the air into Boston Harbor below.
The Boston diving event is the only stop in the US this year. The series concludes in November in Sydney, Australia.
Cliff diving attracts a special kind of athlete, especially when winning means jumping from an art museum into potentially icy waters below, organizers said.
“These epic athletes train super hard to ensure every jump, flip, twist and entry is perfect,” organizers said in a statement.
Practice rounds were held on Friday. The competitive portion of the series is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The series has come to Boston three years in a row and is open to the public.
Two dozen competitors are expected to participate on Saturday. The art museum said in a statement that the event is a visually stunning opportunity for the public and a chance for the athletes to earn “critical championship points based on their final event position” along the way.