In 2021, the small village of Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, became hosts for a stop of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, with international divers leaping into the Atlantic from the picturesque Downpatrick Head.
Hailing from Australia, America, Romania, England, Mexico and Brazil, 24 of the world's best cliff divers somersaulted from heights of up to 27m and at speeds in excess of 85km/h, off beautifully rugged cliffs into the wild Atlantic.
Now, in 2024, having taken place in hotter and brighter locations across the world, the World Series is set to return to colder shores, landing in Ballycastle Harbour as the iconic event heads to Northern Ireland for the very first time.
With three stops completed out of a total of eight, Rhiannan Iffland (Australia) and James Lichtenstein (USA) are out in front after podium finishes in Polignano a Mare, Italy in Round Three.
The stop at Ballycastle in Antrim is being viewed as a pivotal point for those hot on leaders' heels. Hoping to cause an upset in Ballycastle is British diver Aidan Heslop who was in town last week to preview the event and get a sneak peek of the location.
Heslop, the youngest-ever diver to compete in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, and the youngest-ever to win an event, is in a confident mood ahead of the weekend.
While the pros gear up to contort their bodies from dazzling heights into frigid water, a group of Irish content creators were given the opportunity to give the 10 metre dive a go.
Over the last number of weeks, Robyn Courtney, Daragh Curran, Sarah-Kim Watchorn, Andy Ascough, Lara O'Byrne, and Marius Monaghan have completed four lessons under the guidance of Olympic athlete Ollie Dingley, as well as a workshop with professional cliff diver Orlando Duque - all in the hopes of getting some insights into the skills of cliff diving.
Watch the results in the TikTok above.
Sarah-Kim Watchorn, a photographer with a true grá for the sea, says the opportunity instantly appealed to her: "Anything to do with the sea, I'm like, 'yes, please'," she laughs, speaking over the phone. "I've been training to free-dive as well, so I'm doing all the diving at the moment."
Travelling with RedBull to Polignano a Mare to watch the divers take part in the third leg of the tour just a few weeks ago, Watchorn says she learned a lot from her lessons but also from watching the pros in action.
"I learned to have more confidence in my abilities," she says. "I'm more than able to do it. As a kid, you get reinforcement that you're doing great, and you get words of encouragement, but as an adult you're on your own, so you need to be a bit more confident," she says.
It was in Italy that the online creators got a chance to train with Colombian springboard diver Orlando Duque, an experience that Watchorn says gave her a great boost.
"It was really lovely to be around somebody who was so passionate with what they do," she insists. "I think he was impressed that we had learned so quickly in a short space of time."
"We only did like eight hours of training and we were able to dive from a 10 metre board and backflip and everything."
The experience, she says, has been incredible in terms of the travel and training, but also as an opporunity to make friends with other people with similar interests.
"That's probably the nicest part," she smiles. "Being freelance, you do everything on your own, so it was actually so refreshing to have other people your age and your peers doing it with you."
The action will get underway at 4pm on Friday and Saturday. Those unable to attend will be able to watch by tuning in to TG4 on Saturday at 4pm, with the action also streamed live on Red Bull TV.
