The 2008 Splashdiving World Championship will be kicking off from August 15th-17th in Nuremberg, Germany.

The competition is all about cannonball diving, where the international crème de la crème of freestyle diving will gather to hold the big showdown.

Splashdiving was founded in Germany, and basically involves all types of diving from a diving board. The only rule is that when landing, the athlete has to hit the surface of the water with as much of his body surface as possible. Belly flop ahoy!

In marked contrast to the Olympic sports of high diving or springboard diving, the goal of splashdiving is to make as much noise and soak as many spectators as possible.

At the Splashdiving World Championship, there will be single, synchronized and team competitions. So far, twelve official jumping moves have been developed on the ten-metre diving platform that are considered acceptable at splashdiving competitions. At the tournament, the athletes have to tell the judges before they jump which move they are about to perform. The jury judges the overall impression of the athlete’s jump based on three phases: the Jump UP (the jump from the platform), the Move IT (the phase in the air) and the Splash DOWN (the strike on the water). With the help of these three criteria, the jury assesses the athlete and assigns the points.

It sounds a bit bonkers, but we’ll certainly be glued to the action. Keep your eyes peeled for the highlights footage coming soon!