Runner-Up of the Year
He never had the title in his mind – “at least not for this year” – is what Gary Hunt kept repeating after every podium finish this season. After eight competitions the Southampton-based diver shows that British diving does not start and end with Olympic diver and current world champion from the 10m board Tom Delay. He finished on second spot right behind nine times world champion Orlando Duque and has always finished in the top three. He was third in the season opener in La Rochelle, France, in Netherlands and Turkey, second in Croatia, Italy and Switzerland and first in Germany and at the finals in Athens.
In the last years, Gary Hunt has tried a lot: he studied maths for two years, changed to sports and stayed for another year, and then turned to criminology, just for the fun of it. A changeable person as he is, the Englishman is also the most progressive diver within the series. He always has a new dive in his mind and uses it as his secret weapon against cliff diving heroes like Orlando Duque. At the fifth stop in Antalya (TUR), he came up with a totally new dive. Consisting of a back triple somersault and four piked twists, it requires a minimum height of 26m - the series’ standard height - to be performed. A degree of difficulty of 6,2 classifies it as the hardest in diving so far, even in Olympic diving.
The title might not have been in his mind before the series’ start, but it was in the end. Reason enough to come up with a new dive for the final in Athens, which secured him his second win and the second overall rank, tied in with the Colombian who had three victories on his side. He has tasted blood in 2009 and will for sure want more next season.
