Lake Macquarie cliff diving world champion Rhiannan Iffland has embarked on a diving adventure in Guatemala ahead of the start of the 2023 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in June.
The 31-year-old traveled 1500 kilometres in the Central American country with two fellow world champions, Jonathan Paredes from Mexico and Colombian legend Orlando Duque seeking out pure and rugged locations to dive from.
They chose the canyon of Rio Dulce carved out of limestone in the middle of the Guatemalan jungle, Lake Atitlán which lies 1560m above sea level surrounded by three massive volcanoes and the tallest waterfalls in Guatemala at Los Amates.
Six-time World Series Champion Rhiannan said is was a superb training opportunity before the start of the new season.
“The challenge is definitely part of the adventure. Turning up to a new location you never know really what to expect until you’re actually standing there with your feet on the edge of the cliff so its exciting!
“We have to figure out if its deep enough, we have to figure out the climb, the logistics of everything, getting up there and making sure that first and foremost we can do it safely,” Rhiannan said.
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series kicked off on June 3 with the season opener in Boston, USA.
Rhiannan said going overseas and finding the most challenging cliffs to jump off was the best way to start the 2023 season.
“In terms of how this trip would’ve helped, I’ve been at home in the pool for the last couple of months training day in, day out and I really think it was very important for me to come here and just do the sport that I love, come and do it without the pressure but still put myself under pressure in my own way.
“For me one of the most important things about the sport is to keep doing this sort of thing because its what I love and its what drew me to the sport. I feel like sometimes I find myself having to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
“Sometimes the competition stress is there, you’re in really high pressure moments and it starts to become not as enjoyable so I think trips like this really make me step back and appreciate the whole circle of what we do.”
From wild Guatemala, the athletes will travel to the US east coast for the first of six competitions to define the new champions in the men’s and the women’s competitions.
