– How do divers dive from like 170 some feet in the air and have zero damage, but if someone jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge, they are probably going to die.
In: 1736
Most of these answers are absurdly wrong.
Here’s the answer: a handful of highly trained people have done high dives a bit less than the height of the Golden Gate Bridge. That no one has successfully landed that height in competition indicates that thus far it’s not possible. But they’ve done close to it after being highly trained and landing in the exact right way to enable survival.
The divers off the bridge aren’t trained. And they’re not trying to survive, for the most part. And the conditions are completely different, such that it’s rarely survivable. There are many obstacles.
* The first one is surviving the fall. Falling from that height can inflict massive damage—ruptured internal organs, broken bones, concussion. The guy who has the unofficial record for a high dive, a highly trained individual, still dislocated his hip and had to be rescued. Has he done that off the bridge just randomly like other bridge divers, it’s not likely he’d have survived.
* The second is that there’s an involuntary reflex everyone has, NO MATTER HOW WELL TRAINED, [to inhale when suddenly immersed in very cold water](https://www.philacanoe.org/resources/Documents/cold%20water%20safety/Cold%20Water%20Gasp%20-%20Cold%20Shock%20Response%20.pdf). At the speed they’re going, this guarantees they’ll be inhaling when they’re submerged. This will lead to inhaling water, which in and of itself can lead to drowning. In any event that person will immediately be in great distress and underwater at that, with broken bones, ruptured organs, hypothermia, and probably a concussion. These record-setting dives are usually in warm water so the cold water reflex doesn’t apply.
* The third is that the water is extremely cold and will cause hypothermia quickly, making them lose strength, become confused, and be unable to continue
* the fourth is that their injuries, if not fatal, will prevent them from swimming to safety. The bay is brutally difficult to swim in. They have annual recreational swims in the bay—the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlons. They regularly have to rescue something like 10% of competitors, highly trained and motivated athletes who simply can’t handle the conditions. They’re wearing wetsuits to prevent hypothermia yet they still can’t manage. And their injuries will prevent them from having the strength to swim to safety—even if they’d been in good enough shape to have swam to safety in ideal conditions with no fall. No one ever successfully escaped Alcatraz. One dude got to a pylon but due to his hypothermia, still had to be rescued.
* fifth is the tide, which is powerful and will sweep you out to sea. The abovementioned triathlon contestants have to swim ESE in order to end up in San Francisco (the city is due south of Alcatraz) because the tide is pulling them so powerfully in a westward direction. It takes great strength and knowledge to swim the right way.
* sixth is that no one is looking around at the exact right moment to rescue them in most cases.
* eighth is that there’s a strong chance they’re unconscious from the fall and will drown as a result.
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