The traditional 458th diving competition from the Old Bridge in Mostar began Sunday with a dance performance under the arch of the Old Bridge, by the dancer Petra Kozul.

This year, 38 divers tested their strength and competed in two categories, 18 of them in head-first dives and 20 in feet-first dives.

Vedad Dedic took first place in head-first dives, Evald Krnic was second, and Dino Bajric was third. Emel Tiro was first in feet-first dives Igor Kazic was second, and Jasmin Kreso was third.

The best diver overall was Armin Karalic Bakota, while Alica Jakeric was recognized for preserving the tradition for many years.

As the organizers pointed out earlier, this year Mostar did not have a favourite, that is, they did not favour divers from Mostar, noting that the best diver would win.

“As far as the favourites are concerned, we are trying, but our divers are currently having minor problems. We are working with the juniors to get them to dive the swallows competition, we all know that it’s a bit dangerous”, the head of the Mostar Diving Club, Lorens Listo, said earlier.

This year, divers will be judged by an international jury composed of five members: Lilo Zukanovic, Branko Bugicevic from Uzice, Samir Durakovic, Semir Drocic and Faruk Solakovic from Novi Pazar.