Throughout her relatively short but wildly successful career, Rhiannan Iffland has become synonymous with the ever-expanding sport of high diving. The World Champion took some time to talk about her foundations in the sport, the challenges that high divers face, and the future of her event.

How did you find yourself competing in your first high diving competition?

I was originally a 10 meter and springboard diver, then I moved onto doing entertainment in shows on cruise ships and then in parks. As soon as I saw high diving from my trampoline and diving background I was super excited to get up there. I worked my way up from 10-meter, it was a gradual process, I didn’t go straight from there to the 20-meter platform, I worked from 10 to 14 to 16 and then up to 20.

What did your background in springboard and platform diving do for your career as a high diver?

Coming from a springboard and platform diving career and as a trampolinist as well, it made for quite an easy transition into high diving. The techniques for the takeoffs and rotations from diving are exactly the same, so I already had the basic skills there, along with the basic skills from trampolining as well for the landings. So that made it an easier process to transfer over, a lot of the basics and fundamentals come from diving so it was nice to have those skills already.

What are the greatest challenges that you face compared to traditional diving?

As you know, 10-meter is challenging enough already, I would say the biggest challenge that I face, compared to regular diving, is definitely the impact on the water. We are hitting the water at around 80km per hour so the impact there is quite strong. You also face a lot more mental challenges in high diving because there is a lot more chances for error and it’s a lot more dangerous, so that was something that took me a little time to adjust.

As a Red Bull Cliff Diver, you get to compete in some of the most amazing places, what has been your favorite stop and why?

That’s the trickiest question, choosing my favorite place that I dive, I would say however that Portugal is one of my favorite because we are diving right off the cliff there and the place is just naturally so beautiful and so incredible, it’s like nothing I have ever seen before. I also really love Italy, with the culture and having 70,000 spectators there. This is one of my favorite things about cliff diving, being able to combine travel and my passion for diving is something that I love.

Last year you took home gold at the FINA World Championships, what was it like winning that event?

At the World Championships in Budapest, I took home a gold medal. I think this was a really big accomplishment for me and it felt really really special to take home a World Championships medal. Coming from a diving background, it’s a big event in the water sports world, and as a diver I always dreamed to be on the podium in a competition like that. It was a really special moment for me to overcome all my fears and to have trained really hard to end up on that podium was a moment that I will remember forever.

A couple weekends ago you won your third Red Bull World Series. Does that feeling of winning after a long season ever change?

I would say that the feeling never changes. This year we did 5 competitions and I tried to challenge myself a little bit more in my dives, they were a little more unique and I upped my degree of difficulty, so it was really rewarding at the end of the season because I tried to push my limits and I was taking risks.

Where do you see your event in the future?

We are seeing a big progression in the high diving world especially for the women. The dives are getting bigger, we are seeing more and more people interested in the sport which is really great. Now having a World Championships, and having FINA recognize high diving as a sport as well, figures crossed we will see the sport eventually in the Olympics, which is something everyone is pushing for, and I don’t see why not. It’s the same as diving, you have the fundamentals and techniques to be pushing it to that level.

What advice do you have for athletes considering giving cliff diving a go?

Take it slow, it’s much riskier than 10-meter and springboard diving. I think it’s really important to master all the basic skills and to be in control of your body. On top of that I would say go for it and keep on working towards what you want and don’t let fear get in the way.