MIDO x Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Montreal

Storybook ending

Everyone knows the official timekeeper for the Olympic Games. If you watch Formula 1, you are more than aware of the watch brand behind that, too. In fact, the collaboration between watches and sport goes back to the beginning of the last century. This past weekend I had the opportunity to witness a very special collaboration between the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series and MIDO Watches.

MIDO x Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Montreal @calibre321

MIDO’s Ocean Star collection celebrates its 80th anniversary this year at the same time that the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series turns 15. For the first time ever, MIDO helped bring the extreme sport to Montreal and to Canada. The result was an adrenaline filled event with a storybook ending, as sweethearts Molly Carlson and Aidan Heslop each took top prize in their respective events.

Even more special was the fact that hometown hero, Carlson, and Montreal’s adoptive son, Heslop, can actually see the venue at the Grand Quai du Port de Montreal from their apartment only blocks away. The Montreal crowd could not have been more responsive to the results.

Super precise

Red Bull, famous for its association with extreme sport and its meteoric rise to notoriety, could not have found a better partner then they did in MIDO. According to brand CEO, Franz Linder, cliff diving and MIDO meet “where precision and performance are reflected in the technological prowess of our Ocean Star models.”

Despite its 106-year long history, MIDO presents itself as a fresh face among watchmakers, particularly in North America where they only recently opened regional offices (US 2006, Canada 2015). Likewise, extreme sport—though growing enormously in popularity—remains the purview of the young.

While founded in the 1980s, Red Bull exploded onto the scene in 1992 after the launch of its “Red Bull gives you wings” media campaign. That campaign has penetrated more than 170 countries around the world and Red Bull now controls 43% of the energy drink market.

Aside from cliff diving, Red Bull has a stake in Formula 1, NASCAR, and MotoGP—not to mention involvement in a slew of smaller sporting events like windsurfing, parkour, skateboarding, and even breakdancing.

Heslop relaxing before the big competition @calibre321

Friends of Brand

MIDO counts two divers among its ambassadors on the men’s cliff diving tour. The first is Mexican athlete, Jonathan Paredes—winner of the overall championship in 2019 and the longest serving member in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series with 21 podiums. The second is Aidan Heslop, who currently sits in first among the points standing for 2024 after his win in Montreal with two events remaining in Turkey and Australia.

“It means so much to me,” says Heslop, who was wearing his MIDO Decompression Worldtimer at the competition, “because I love this sport so much. And the fact that I can really pursue this sport with sponsors like MIDO, is something really special to me. And, I mean, it just aligns so perfectly as well. The precision of MIDO and cliff diving just go hand in hand.”

Paredes echoes the sentiment. “MIDO is one of the best families. Honestly, one of the best brands that I work with. I am proud and super happy to tour with them.”

In addition to their trophies, Montreal champions—Carlson and Heslop—took home a MIDO Ocean Star 600 Chronometer for their efforts.

Perhaps no other watch in the MIDO catalogue represents the brand so quintessentially, nor aligns so well with Red Bull Cliff Diving. Few COSC-certified chronometers retail under $2K—fewer still are water resistant up to 600m (that’s almost 2000 feet!). With highlights like a ceramic bezel insert, Grade X Super-LumiNova, a helium escape valve, and an anti-magnetic Nivachron balance spring with an 80-hour power reserve, the Ocean Star 600 is a robust luxury diver at an entry level price.

MIDO x Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Montreal

The first ever Canadian stop on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series was two years in the making, explains Erich Flatscher, who is a member of the RBCDWS International Sports & Event Project Team. “Countries petition Red Bull in order to become one of the 8 stops on the tour.”

Once a venue has been selected from the petitioners, Red Bull helps guide the host city through the event preparation process. The event manager and the Red Bull team work together, as well, in the weeks leading up to the competition with venue setup. “Between the two teams,” says Flatscher, “there are 150-200 people working onsite to ensure a successful competition.”

The diving tower in Montreal was established eight meters above the St Lawrence River and rose to a height of 21 meters at the first platform—or seven storeys—from where the women jump. A second platform was set at 27 meters for the men. “The platform in Montreal is unique on the tour, as it is the only one supported by crane,” Flatscher explains.

Divers accelerate off the platform at 15.8km/second (almost as fast as a super car!) and reach speeds up to 85km/hour in under 3 seconds. When they strike the water, it is with two to three times the force of gravity. As such, divers must enter the water feet first. And when they do, they create an inverted mushroom cloud, like a bomb blast. Safety divers are on hand in the water in case of an emergency.

In the end, the Montreal stop was an enormous success for all concerned. A crowd in the tens of thousands watched from the docks and the rooftops, even through a brief rain delay in the late afternoon. For their perseverance, they were rewarded with two epic showdowns.

Molly Carlson, a Thunder Bay native who now lives and trains in Montreal, held off seven-time champion Rhiannan Iffland of Australia, and Aidan Heslop, the Welshman who now calls the Canadian city his home, edged out reigning champ Constantin Popovici of Romania.

The perfect partnership

In a sport that requires absolute perfection in performance, MIDO strikes the ideal chord in its partnership with the RBCDWS. The brand has been working with the series since 2019, and it is easy to see why. The watchmaker and the sport share the same obsession—to push the limits of precision.