Why cliff diving champion Rhiannan Iffland is a true game changer
Find out how five-time world champion cliff diver Rhiannan Iffland became elite in episode 5 of Game Changers, a new podcast mini-series from Red Bull.
“It’s a really, really cool feeling. When you hit the water, everything just goes silent and then you realise: ‘Wow, that was awesome. I want to go back up and do it again’.”
Rhiannan Iffland is a five-time world champion and a bona fide cliff diving sensation. Not only that, but she’s pushed the boundaries of her sport by leaping from hot air balloons, helicopters and plunging into oceans all across the globe.
For most of us, jumping off a cliff is pretty low on our to-do list. But for Rhiannan, it’s an everyday reality and something she is always striving to be better at doing.
And believe it or not, even Rhiannan feels fear before every dive. But she dives anyway.
In the fifth and final episode of Game Changers, a new podcast mini-series from Red Bull, host Marlee Silva sits down with Rhiannan and takes a deep dive into what drives her and how she manages to feel the fear and do it anyway.
Want to hear more? Click play below and read on for an excerpt from the podcast to get a taste of what’s to come:
As you mentioned earlier, you're a self-proclaimed adrenaline chaser, but fear is a part of it that I think people might be surprised to hear you face still. Are you afraid every time you dive?
Rhiannan Iffland:Yes. That's a plain and simple answer for me, yes. Look, every time I go up on the platform, it always feels different. […] There's a part of me that thinks that the fear is what keeps me safe, and it makes me keep my wits about me so that, you know, injuries don't come as easy you don't do silly things. It's like a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. One side is saying, 'yeah, do it, do it all.' And then the other side's going like, 'OK, no, calm down, you shouldn't be up there'. It's a strange thing. It's not something that goes away, but it's something that gets easier to overcome. […] Once you go through the water, everything goes silent. And, you think, 'wow, I just overcame all of those feelings. I overcame that fear, and that felt amazing'. So it's one thing that keeps drawing me back to it. And when you overcome that, you want to go up there and do it again.