On July 19, 2018, FINA celebrated a 110 years of history in Lausanne, as the IF inaugurated its Lausanne brand new Headquarters, the first the Federation ever owned.

World champion and high diving star Gary Hunt of Great Britain was among the athletes attending the big celebration last week.

"It is a fantastic place with really nice weather. The headquarters are a very nice contrast between the old building and the more modern one. It is really nicely situated on the hill side with an amazing view so I can see why FINA and the other International Federations are coming here. I am very happy to have been invited and be part of the event."

As one of the pioneers of FINA's youngest discipline, Gary Hunt, 34, came back on FINA's role in the evolution of high diving since its adoption by FINA in 2013.

"FINA integrating high diving in its scope of work was a big moment for the sport and it showed it was not just a circus spectacle and not just a group of crazy people doing tricks. It was a real sport and it was a real big step towards becoming something professional. It was a massive move towards our final goal, which is to be part of the Olympic Games one day."

Visiting Lausanne for the first time, Hunt developed about the structure FINA brought to the sport.

"With the competitions that I have taken part in before FINA took on the sport, we were always thrown some difficulties. There were always lots of things that were changing such as the height of the platforms and the format of the competition."

"When we became part of the FINA Family we knew there would have to be more structure and that is the biggest change we have seen. We had to decide which format would be the official one and stick to it. FINA really helped in the progression and stabilisation of the rules in that sense."

The High Diving Calendar

Keen to see more competitions every year, Hunt said:

"One competition a year is great but I would love to see extra competitions with FINA because it would help with the development of the discipline."

"I think the FINA competitions are a real chance for new talents to show their skills and also with FINA's events we always have the 27m and 20m platforms for the women and 10, 7 and 5m that we can use for training and you see a lot of progression in the one week the competition is held. A lot of divers are learning new dives because the facilities at their disposal are really perfect."

Dreaming about a potential High Diving World Series, Hunt got excited:

"A World Series would be amazing! I have seen what the Diving World Series has become. It has become very popular and I am a big fan myself. If high diving could go in the same direction that would be a huge step and very exciting."

"I would like to see more connections with the sport of diving because all high divers have come through traditional diving."

"The best way to create more high divers is by making the transition from diving to high diving more fluid and easier. Many divers, who are maybe not the best in their country but very close, are missing the opportunity to perform at the World Championships and they should be offered to diverge to high diving easily. That could dramatically improve the number of participants."

"Also, we could hold a training camp once a year in places that already have platforms built in and available. There is a place in England in Cornwall where they have 16, 20 and 24m and there is also a place in Austria with a permanent platform and with a raising platform even so you can chose between 10 and 27m. These locations are the perfect places to introduce people to the sport and also to improve the coaching and judging because we are often on our own in high diving competition. Not many divers take their coaches with them when they compete."

"The sport has a lot to grow in regards to the relationship between the diver and the coach. These things could be improved by holding judging and coaching courses."

Looking ahead at the summer season, Hunt will be back in Switzerland soon for a cliff diving stage.

"This is the busy season for high diving, with the cliff diving calendar. The next Red Bull competition with be in Sisikon in Switzerland. We will then go very fast with competitions every weekend throughout August in Europe, after going to Texas (USA) at the beginning of the year. And of course the FINA World Cup in November in Abu Dhabi (UAE)."