Newfoundland: Canadian high diver Molly Carlson became the first woman in the world to dive off an iceberg.
She performed the daring feat in Twillingate, Canada, sending out a powerful message about mental health, as reported by The Indian Express.
Molly was inspired by her own mental health struggles, and used the iceberg as a symbol of what so many people experience in silence. According to her, just as only 10 per cent of an iceberg is visible above the water, people’s struggles are often hidden beneath the surface.
“Icebergs are incredibly dangerous. This is definitely the scariest thing I’ve ever done. I felt like I was in the air for like 10 minutes,” she told CBC Sports, as she called the jump “the dive of my dreams.”
Molly, 28, who is originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, performed a backward dive of approximately 15 metres into the frigid North Atlantic. Her achievement also appears in the documentary Red Bull Iceberg Dive, which was released on Thursday.
While she is a regular competitor in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, diving off an iceberg presented unique challenges. Contrary to a traditional diving platform, icebergs move constantly and can crack or even roll without warning.
Molly, in her interview to CBC Sports, revealed that the idea took nearly four years to bring to life, driven partly by her ambition to put Canada’s breathtaking natural landscapes in the spotlight.
She trained in cold water, tested specialised wetsuits, and learned ice climbing techniques with Canadian climber Will Gadd, NBC Bay Area reported. Her team also spent extensive time searching for a stable iceberg that could safely support the dive.
Molly was unsure if the dive attempt would actually happen even after arriving in Newfoundland. Weather conditions, ocean swells, and iceberg stability all had to align before she and her team could move forward to perform the historic dive.
She said bravery is not about eliminating fear, but about learning to move forward despite it, NBC Bay Area reported.
