Athletics

Red Bull’s Mike Swanson and Ahmad Daham Swap Roles for the Day

What happens when you throw a drifter out of plane? And what happens to a wingsuit pilot when you put him behind the wheel of a drift car? Only one way to find out

Written by Red Bull MEA

3 min readPublished on 23.06.2021 · 11:56 UTC

5 min

Red Bull’s Mike Swanson and Ahmad Daham Swap Roles for the Day

Red Bull athletes make their respective sports look all too easy. So, to shatter the myth, these athletes decided to mix things up a bit and make two of them swap roles for the day.

Mike Swanson, skydiver and wingsuit pilot from the Red Bull Air Force Team, and Ahmad Daham, a Red Bull Drifter and regional drifting champion, would be the two sportsmen trading places. But to add an element of excitement, both were strapped up with a heart rate monitor to see how each would take the pressure and adapt to the new rush.

Mike, who has multiple US national and world championship titles, as well as multiple gold medals from the legendary Space Games and many other major triumphs in the world of skydiving went first.

Ahmad started out by taking Mike for a spin at the Dubai Autodrome in his 1200hp Lexus to experience the real physics of drifting. Incredibly Mike’s heart rate only hit 117 BPM, maybe proving that not a lot fazes him? Then it was on to the simulator at Ahmad’s Garage (AD24) to learn how to drift. Once Mike had to take the wheel himself his heart rate hit 140 BPM, even though it was only in the SIM.

With Mike behind the wheel and drifting himself at the Red Bull Car Park Drift track on Deira Islands, and with Daham offering advice from the passenger seat, Mike’s heart handled it well. But it still hit 144 BPM during the session, only slightly more than on the SIM. Some of the cones faired less well and may never be quite the same again!

“Man, that was a rush! It’s much harder than it looks. I’m a little nervous jumping into a car and taking it for a slide. But Ahmad is an incredible driver, so hopefully he can pass on some good tips to me. Bring it on!” said Swanson.

Shifting over to Daham (who amazingly took on the challenge despite a fear of heights), Mike started off Ahmad, who is one of the stars of the Middle East's hugely popular drifting scene, a multiple champion and a Guinness World Record holder, in inflight Dubai’s vertical wind tunnel. Daham learnt skydiving skills and balance with Mike, who then gave everyone a masterclass in stunt flying. In the wind tunnel Daham’s heart rate hit 159 bpm, the highest so far.

“Flying for the first time was amazing! So much fun, so exciting. Got me so pumped, and I can’t wait to do the real thing.” Said Daham.

Then it was time for the actual jump with Daham having to conquer his inner fears and do a tandem jump from the Skydive Dubai plane over the stunning Palm Jumeirah drop zone. Mike jumped alongside Daham to give him some mid-air encouragement. Ahmad’s BPM hit 170 during the drop.

“It’s the best thing I’ve done in my entire life to be honest. I’m still shaking. It’s actually quite relaxing, but the feeling of freefalling is just insane.” Added Daham.

So, who won the BMP battle? For the record the highest BPM was Ahmad’s 170 during his freefall. So maybe he’s more of an adrenaline junkie or maybe Mike keeps his cool behind the wheel? Well, there wasn’t really any rules in the first place, so the two decided to call it an honorable draw and that despite having a fantastic time.

Athletics