BOSTON — These athletes are on edge. The edge of a Boston art museum, that is.
Cliff diving’s marquee event comes to the hub of New England on Saturday as the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series makes the 100th stop in its history. Participants will plunge from up to 90 feet (27 meters) in the air from the Institute of Contemporary Art into Boston Harbor below.
The Boston diving event is the only U.S. stop this year. The series wraps up in Sydney, Australia, in November.
Cliff diving attracts a special kind of athlete, especially when winning means leaping from an art museum into potentially frigid waters below, organizers said.
“These epic athletes train super hard to make sure every leap, somersault, twist and entry is perfect,” organizers said in a statement.
Practice rounds were held Friday. The competitive portion of the series is scheduled for early 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 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 “crucial championship points along the way based on their final event positionsp.”