The champions of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series will be crowned on U.S. soil for the first time when the international competition finishes in Boston Friday into Saturday.
The series, which kicked off in the Philippines on Aug. 11 and made stops in Italy and Bosnia, will conclude when divers jump off the side of The Institute of Contemporary Art in Seaport and into Boston Harbor on Sept. 19 and 20.
Not only is this the first time the competition is ending in the U.S., it also marks the first U.S. Women’s Final since the division began in 2014.
But for American diver Kaylea Arnett, who is in second place ahead of the last stop on the tour, it’s not just about landing on the podium. Her ultimate goal is to keep doing the sport she loves the most, and has been doing for more than two decades.
“My ultimate goal each year, especially this year, is to just make it to the next year,” Arnett said in an interview with MassLive. “It’s all about playing the long game here. I’m not going for glory or gold or anything like that. I would like to keep diving as long as I can, because I love it.”
Even if she finishes lower than she’s currently placed, Arnett has already “done the math” and knows that she qualifies for next year.
“So mission accomplished,” she said.
Arnett is also coming back to Boston after missing two stops on the tour last year due to a knee injury. Therefore, her return to the city is already gearing up to be a sweet reunion not only with her fellow divers, but with family.
“They started planning a year ago that they’re all going to come and watch in Boston,” Arnett said about her family. “So I was like, ‘oh, my God, got to get to Boston!’”
Once the competition wraps up, Arnett and her family plan on going to Salem for the pre-October madness and eating real, quality seafood they can’t find in Texas.
“I’m going to make them eat an oyster,” she chuckled. “They’re Northern Texans, they don’t know oysters. So I want to rock their world.”
Arnett joined the Red Bull Cliff Diving World series in 2024, so this is her second season. She has also competed at the World Championships with USA Diving as well as at other competitions nationally and internationally.
Outside of diving, Arnett has been a member of the Chickasaw Nation since birth. The federally recognized Indigenous nation is dedicated to the preservation of the tribe’s heritage, which has recorded history in the U.S. dating back to 1540.
The Borger, Texas native was — quite literally — hand-chosen to pursue diving at a young age. When she was 8 years old, Arnett attended a friend’s birthday that just so happened to be at one of USA Diving’s regional training centers in Oklahoma. Coaches were impressed with Arnett’s flipping skills, which she acquired through power tumbling and trampoline classes, and told her to pursue diving.
“So just then and there, I quit tumbling and I started diving,” the now 32-year-old said. “And I’m still diving to this day.”
Diving has supported Arnett throughout her life’s “many trials and challenges,” from breakups with boyfriends to losing her dog. But after competing for so long, Arnett “started to hit a wall” with the sport.
“I wasn’t doing very well and just got really tired of it and sick of it, and it wasn’t fun anymore,” she said. “I ended up going to Virginia Tech and had a great time there competing, as well. But after I graduated, I ended up joining the circus.”
From 2016 to 2020, Arnett was part of a show called “The House of Dancing Water.” She credits the water production, which required her to dance on chandeliers, with teaching her how to high dive. After the COVID-19 pandemic ended that show’s run, Arnett joined Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas in 2021 and stayed for a little more than two years.
“That was such a refreshing take on diving for me to perform it without being scored on it,” Arnett explained. “The audience just goes nuts, no matter how good or bad your dive was, and you still get the same paycheck at the end of the day, no matter how well you dive. So that really sparked the love for me to perform rather than compete.”
Arnett still upholds that mentality when she competes today. She also said this mindset “has been really working out for me” as she takes on some of the best divers in the world.
“At the end of the day, in the back of my mind, I know it’s a competition and [to] put down the best dives that I can, no matter what. And I think it’s really important as a competitor to take the misses as well as you take the hits, you know, and that’s the only way you can move forward,” Arnett said. “So I don’t find myself getting too carried away. I think because I’ve been diving for so long, that I can put my body into autopilot and it just knows how to dive. So I can be partying in my head, but my body is still diving. It’s a great relationship we have.”
Spectators can watch Arnett and her fellow competitors during the finale of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series starting around 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19. The competition is free and open to the public.
Winners will be crowned on Saturday, Sept. 20 around 1 p.m. The competition will also be live streamed on the Red Bull Cliff Diving YouTube, Red Bull TV and ESPN+.
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