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Elisa Cosetti, a dive into the future: “Forbidden to get lost (in the air)”

“Almost me I stay here, I wish this weekend would never end ». Elisa Cosetti is the portrait of happiness: from the beach of Polignano, goes back to the village, while people shout her name, compliment her, ask her for a photo. The final stage of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series and she – as a wildcard – is officially the first Italian in competition history. “My friends called me to tell me that I’m on TG1Jokes the athlete from Trieste, who gave him three months ago maturity. «I sacrificed my summer to train, I can say that my efforts have been amply repaid. We went beyond the dream ».

The passion for diving where and when was it born?
«I was eight years old, I was really a little girl: one day I accompany a friend of mine to a trampoline competition, the low low one, one meter. It immediately captured me, I decided to try it and I fell in love with it ».

Do you have any memories of your first dive in the competition?
«That we were so many, I think 24. So much emotion and in the end I finished twelfth, which was fine: I broke the ice, besides I had fun».

And to the great heights, how did it get there?
“Thanks to Alessandro (De Rose, ed), who has always trained in my gym in Trieste. Two years ago then I went to see him compete and I said to myself, a little as a joke, “I want to do it too“. And today here I am ».

So he wasn’t kidding.
«I started training on the trampoline and I realized I could do it. On a technical level, it was essential to learn the barani, which is that exclusive movement of dives from great heights that is performed before entering the water, to land with the feet ».

Technique aside, how did De Rose (third in the men’s race in Polignano) motivate you?
«He explained to me that in high diving athletes are part of a big family, they support each other. In traditional dives it is different, everyone isolates himself with headphones, makes his own competition. Here, on the other hand, everyone cheers, I was received in a fantastic way ».

Less competition?
«In reality there is, because everyone is normal that he wants to win. But just aim for its best. In the sense, from these heights you would never hope that your opponent is wrong, because he would run the risk of getting hurt ».

Here, in the family, what do they say about your sport?
“At first they were a little scared, that’s normal. They turned up their noses, but then they realized that is what makes me happy and now they are my first fans. They are all here with me in Polignano ».

And what are you afraid of when you are on the platform?
“To lose myself.”

In what sense, sorry?
“I know it sounds strange, but when we take a dip, we always know exactly where we are. As if it were a path: we look at the water, it lasts a flash but we calculate everything. And, in fact, the feeling of being lost when you are in the air is a nightmare ».

In fact, in those cases he cannot put the car in reverse.
“No, you have to complete the dive somehow. But the bad thing is that that feeling then stays inside you and becomes your worst enemy. You have to chase it away every time you get to the top of the platform. ‘

In short, to fly you need a happy thought, Peter Pan was right.
“In truth, the fewer thoughts you have before you throw yourself in, the better. In the sense, you have to leave almost everything out of your head, just focus on the dip. For example, I try to re-weigh a dive that came to me well, I relive it inside me and try to feel that sensation ».

But diving is also a modus vivendi?
“Absolutely yes. I am a spontaneous person, who likes to jump right into the things she likes. Of course, sometimes I also have to make choices and it’s not easy: for example, I would have wanted to enroll in university, but I can’t carry it out together with sport ».

What faculty did you think?
«Interior design, because I love drawing. Unfortunately I would have to commute to Udine and with the new training programs it would become exhausting, I would risk hurting both things. So for now, priority to diving ».

Also because next year, in Rome, there are the European Championships, with dives from great heights also scheduled.
«There is an ambitious project by the federation to get to that appointment as much as possible. They are following me a lot, one week a month I go to Rome where there is a well-equipped gym. Then they allowed me to go to Austria, to Area 47. There I made my first dive from 20 meters, there I began my journey ».

And now, it is forbidden to get lost. Especially in the air.

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