A familiar jump. A new idea around it.

No one needed to invent the cannonball to make something of their own out of it. The idea was to take the jump from an everyday moment at the lido and put it on a shared stage: as a competition, as entertainment and as a reason to get together.

In a 2021 interview with Nordbayern, Oliver Hillebrecht says he organised the first Arschbombe World Championship in Bayreuth in 2004. The year and account are presented here explicitly as his recollection, published later. Nordbayern · 22.08.2021 ↗

For the history of the format, that distinction matters: this early competition did not yet automatically have the name later used by the sport as it reached an international audience.

A German word becomes an international name.

In the same interview, Hillebrecht says that interest from other countries made a more accessible name necessary. “Splashdiving” described the new format without having to explain the word “Arschbombe” everywhere. Nordbayern ↗

A contemporary report from Dillingen records the name change to “Splashdiving Worldchampionship” in 2006. That is why this archive treats the early 2004 Arschbombe World Championship separately from the later Splashdiving World Championship. STERN / dpa · 14.08.2006 ↗

We’ll add more detail about the 2004 competition using original material: posters, schedules, results and clearly dated images. Until then, this account sticks to what can actually be verified.

Contemporary reporting: the 2004 winners.

DER SPIEGEL’s report of 16 August 2004 names Christian Guth as world champion and Mona Hoffmann as the women’s winner. Kader Loth was a celebrity guest, not a competing diver. DER SPIEGEL · 16.08.2004 ↗