Born in Kiev in 1964 (8th July), Andrey Ignatenko is certainly one of the most experienced and mature divers around the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series 2009. Always with an ultra low-profile attitude, the silent Ukrainian is well respected among his peers and shares with them a common background; swimming comes first at the age of four. Staying in the pool, he moved to conventional diving when he was nine years old and since then all his life has been dedicated to the sport he loves.
More than twenty times national diving champion in several categories and overall champion of the former USSR in the three-metre springboard, Ignatenko was attracted to the world of cliff diving like many others. So he started working in diving shows in 1992, before attending his first competition in 1996.
In the current season of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, Andrey Ignatenko was the first to win with an outstanding performance in La Rochelle. A key moment that revealed its most unique side from the athlete’s point of view. In his own words “cliff diving is a highly mental sport and that’s why I don’t feel the need to practice like the others do. I do my homework really well and then focus all my energies in the moment of truth; that means my first dive in the competition”.
Third in the Red Bull Cliff Diving Lake Wolfgang in 2005 and ranked eighth last year in the same competition, Andrey Ignatenko is still feeling strong for “at least” one or two more years in the high spheres of cliff diving. Between the stops and other competitions, the quiet Ukrainian prefers to spend most of his time at home with his family of two girls (21 year old Katia and 8 year old Anastacia), one boy (24 year old Sergey) and an extra company of 18 dogs!
