Cliff Diving
Diver Molly Carlson battled anxiety: now she leads a mental health movement
Molly Carlson's journey to becoming a leading figure in her sport isn't just about her epic diving skills; it's a story of personal growth, facing fears and unrelenting resilience.
25-year-old Canadian diver Molly Carlson is the ultimate example of how to face your fears head-on. Launching from mind-blowing heights of 21m (70ft), she turns fear into fuel, showing how grit and guts and simply believing in yourself – flaws, fails and all – can lead to greatness.
Her infectious enthusiasm has been lighting up the World Series since 2021 when the young Canadian diving talent burst onto the scene as a wildcard. Since landing a place in the World Series line-up with a permanent diver spot, debuting in Saint-Raphaël, and now as a regular on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series podium, Carlson has captured the hearts and minds of millions across the globe as she fiercely rivals giant Rhiannan Iffland for the win.
Before joining the World Series, Carlson had already begun building a huge social media following, thanks to her authenticity and outstanding athletic abilities, leading the Canadian diver to establish her own Brave Gang online community initiative where she actively encourages others to speak their truth when it comes to mental health advocacy and self-image.
But what inspired the World Series competitor to spread her message of courage and mental health awareness? Let’s take a look at Molly Carlson’s journey to finding her own bravery.
Building momentum:
Molly Carlson soars on the Causeway Coast
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
Carlson’s diving career began in 2007, after two years of honing her athletic and acrobatic skills in gymnastics. A natural in the sport, Carlson was soon a familiar face on competition podiums, including her first ever Junior Nationals even in 2008, where she won a Bronze medal. It wasn’t long before Team Canada came knocking and took Carlson under their wing, training and guiding the young talent to the international stage.
From 2009 until 2016, Carlson’s years as a Junior and then Senior on the international scene saw her qualify for almost every major competition on the calendar, including the Youth Olympic Games and the Junior World Championships. But competing from the 3m springboard and 10m platform would have a price. In 2016, Carlson suffered a broken wrist, thanks in part to her relentless training and competitive regimen – in Carlson’s own words, “... landing on my wrists 100 times a week at 50kph.”
The toll her sport was taking on her wrists saw Carlson considering taking her diving to the next level – quite literally – and by 2020, she had made the decision to take up high diving, where she would have no choice but to land feet-first, due to the high-G, high-impact nature of diving from such great heights.
Molly Carlson on pressure: "That’s when it gets super toxic"
Deep breath before taking the plunge
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
Before making the switch to cliff diving, it wasn’t all podiums and smooth sailing for the Canadian star, though. Carlson had not only suffered physical injuries from pursuing her sport at a world-class level but began to experience mental strain, too.
As the stakes were raised – a move to Toronto in 2015 in her final year of high school and mounting pressure and expectation from chasing her diving career goals – Carlson’s mental health took a turn for the worst, and she found herself managing an eating disorder.
“Growing up with anxiety, you have this unreal expectation on yourself that you just want to be the best ever and just like a robot, almost,” Carlson explained as she prepared for the season opener in Boston in 2023.
Looking back at her 16-year-old self under pressure from both internal and external sources, Carlson revealed that her anxiety had led to extreme body dysmorphia, which in turn manifested as a binge eating disorder stemming from self-comparison with unrealistic body types.
Comparison takes a toll
© Ricardo Nascimento/Red Bull Content Pool
For teenage girls, it’s really hard. Comparing yourself is part of life, but when you take it too personally, when you physically want to be someone else, that’s when it gets super toxic
“When I struggled with eating disorders back in high school... I was so scared to come forward,” Carlson continued. “I thought no one would know I’m struggling because I look perfect every day. My body was fine. I was ‘healthy,’ but my wrists were breaking because I was so anxious. My hair was falling out… there are these little things that turn physical in the long run. You see, if you’re not dealing with your mental health, you’re actually getting injured.”
How Molly Carlson built back her self confidence
A fresh start can be healing
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
After a year of deep struggles and knowing that she needed to make changes in order to heal, Carlson sought a fresh start away from the triggers and the environment that contributed to her disordered thoughts. A move to Florida State University (FSU) under the mentorship of coach John Proctor in 2016 saw Carlson rekindle her passion for her sport in a much healthier way.
The move, alongside support and guidance from her college coach, allowed the then 18-year-old to find a new path and begin building a new healthy and inspired mindset. Carlson was once again chasing excellence in the pool, feeling excited and motivated while building back her self-confidence along the way.
Her success at FSU representing the Florida State Seminoles landed Carlson a place in the history books as she collected an array of accolades, including NCAA All-American and ACC MVP/Diver of the Year, both in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
After graduation, Carlson officially switched to cliff diving due to ongoing wrist issues and began a new chapter in her career. She moved once again, this time to Montreal, and found herself under the expert guidance of Team Canada High Diving Coach Stephane Lapointe.
By 2021, she had secured a wildcard spot in the world-class Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, facing new fears as she began diving from 21m (70ft) and performing jaw-dropping complex dive sequences.
What is Brave Gang?
There is a community in cliff diving
© Mauro Puccini/Red Bull Content Pool
All the while, alongside her feats of elite sportsmanship, the Canadian was building an online following, not only for showcasing her immense talent on the diving platform but also through simply sharing her experiences and speaking openly about her fears, anxieties and even outright fails on her social media channels.
“I really started feeling comfortable in this space online because of Victoria Garrick, a volleyball player from South Carolina, USA,” Carlson shared. “At school, she struggled with binge-eating disorder as well, and when she graduated, her whole journey of being done with sports, and her body was changing, and being comfortable with that… she used to edit her pictures, and then she was like ‘I need to live a life for me.’
Following how Garrick progressed from a dark time to being her truest self inspired Carlson to do the same for her followers, too. “She’s my biggest inspiration, for sure. I feel like we’ve gone through similar situations, and I definitely would love to meet her one day.”
Taking the ‘risk’ to be her true self, Carlson has now discovered a new kind of freedom, finding her strong voice and growing her confidence as she navigates through the latest chapter of her career… and to assure her followers that they’re not alone in their struggles.
“I think what made me so confident and who I am today has been sharing the good and the bad. I used to only post when I was on top of the podium, or I was in the perfect position, the perfect picture… just everything that made it look like my life was perfect,” she explained. “That’s what I wanted to share on social media. And this created a really unrealistic lifestyle for myself,” the Canadian added.
As Carlson’s diving career goes from strength to strength, the World Series diver has steadily amassed a huge social media following. Through her authenticity, behind the scenes diving exclusives and no-holds-barred honesty, Carlson’s #BraveGang hashtag has cultivated a dedicated following, leading the athlete to eventually found the Brave Gang, a large online community dedicated to fostering courage, body positivity and resilience.
Today, the 25-year-old posts across multiple platforms and speaks to almost 2 million YouTube followers and 4 million users on TikTok as she continues to share her hopes, dreams… and even the times when she’s outright terrified.
“When I started sharing the funny, the drama, the times when I missed a dive and landed on my ass today but let’s laugh about it… the fact that I can go on social media and people feel more related to that than ever. I’m like, OMG, I’m doing this for the rest of my life!”
Unapologetically authentic
Molly Carlson is open about what she's working through
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
Managing her own mental health remains an ongoing process for Carlson. And despite being amongst the best in her field, she’s not afraid to speak about the challenges she faces, including expectations around performance and even her appearance in her sport:
You can be imperfect sometimes. Learning to recognise that inside of me – I want everything to go absolutely flawlessly, but if it doesn’t, I want to be OK with that as well, you know?
The World Series King Kahekili trophy (overall winner) contender has embraced sharing her journey on social media - good and bad bits included - highlighting issues and experiences that have previously might have been swept under the rug. There are no taboos - raw fear, panic attacks, body image and even cellulite are all given airtime on Carlson’s platform.
But she’s still doing the work and encouraging others to stick at it. “Some days are still a struggle for me when it comes to body image,” she wrote in an Instagram post this summer. “How I feel in my body vs how it looks and what it can do are often not in line with each other. Some of my best dives came out of the days I felt the worst because I still showed up for myself.“
More recently, Carlson posted about her bloating – a body issue she has struggled with in the past – which had led to unwelcome speculation about whether she was pregnant.
“While this was tough to hear, I’m in such a better place with my body image that I know how to respond and not spiral,” Carlson wrote in her Instagram post caption. “16-year-old Molly would have anxiously laughed and gone home to think of all the ways I could change the way my body looks. 25-year-old Molly can hear comments like this, politely say no, and go home and remind myself that I am worth so much more than what my body looks like…“
Molly Carlson sharing her joy
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
The Brave Gang continues to be a huge part of Carlson’s journey as she pursues the King Kahekili trophy and pushes the boundaries of cliff diving, facing her fears along the way. By fostering a supportive and empowering environment, Carlson creates a ripple effect, encouraging more people to face their fears and live boldly.
“... I want to make a mark on this next generation. I don’t want anyone else to be that 16-year-old girl that I was, that hated every inch of herself because she wanted to be someone else. I think if I can show that we are human, that we make mistakes, and it’s fun to learn from them, then I’ve done my job,” she finished.
See Molly Carlson in action at the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Oslo August 8-10 as the world’s best divers compete at the fifth stop on the 2024 calendar.