The medieval town of Kanal in western Slovenia attracted diving enthusiasts from seven countries who showed their skills plunging off the town's landmark 17-metre bridge into the emerald depths of the Soča River on 11 August.

A total of 20 competitors took part in the 35th iteration of the event, the youngest of them only 11 years old.

"I think of good things and that I will hit the water nicely," Peter, the youngest competitor told TV Slovenija.

His mother, Špela Mrak, was far more nervous ahead of his first dive from the town's stone bridge. "My heart is racing like mad ... I don't know whether mum can survive this or not, he will for sure," she said.

Competitors from Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Serbia, the US and Slovenia faced off in four categories: the swallow, feet-first, figure diving and free-style, the latter being a new category this year.

Two of the competitors were women, both Americans, Branko Dolenc of the local tourism board told the Slovenian Press Agency.

The bridge spans a narrow section of the Alpine river, which means that the water there is much deeper than along much of the watercourse, reaching 12 metres that day, according to Dolenc.

The temperature of the Soča on the day of the competition was 22-23 degrees Celsius, which is typical for August, Dolenc said, but told TV Slovenija that a Danish competitor complained about it being too cold.

"Of course I'm a little nervous, even though I've done it for 20 years now," Jimmi Anderson from Denmark told TV Slovenija ahead of his dive.

The dives certainly involve a dose of adrenaline rush. Aleš Krničnik, one the competitors, said the divers reach speeds of between 60 and 70 kilometres an hour as they touch the water.

As the winners were declared in the town's medieval square, which also hosts various concerts during summer, Austrian Fabian Wurzinger won both figure diving and free-style, while Vincent Aleithe from Germany won the feet-first competition ahead of Austria's Osama Ali and Wurzinger.

The Kanal Bridge dive event was first staged in 1989, and in 2005 and 2006 it was part of the Diving World Cup, with the best divers in the world jumping off an elevated ramp that rose 23 metres from the surface of the Soča.

The 17-metre bridge was initially built in 1580. Over the years it was destroyed and rebuilt several times, the last time in 1920.