IT'S no surprise Molly Carlson was "freaking out" as she prepared to hurl herself into the Boston marina from a terrifying 70ft platform.
As the bumper crowds watched in awe as Molly and her fellow Red Bull cliff divers spun, flipped, and twisted through the air, everyone held their breath.
7
7
7
Of course, these professional divers make everything look so easy.
Yet, for some including celebrated Canadian Molly, the dread of imminent disaster rushes through their veins.
"The fear never goes away," Molly, who finished in third place in what was the 100th edition of the Red Bull cliff diving series which started in 2009, told The U.S. Sun.
Molly says the thoughts racing through their mind are similar to what the mere mortals watching from the safety of ground level are thinking.
She admits she is always "nervous", but worries about safety and whether her performance will be up to scratch.
In Boston, Molly absolutely nailed her dives, but said, "I'm like freaking out on the platform. I'm absolutely freaking out."
The Canadian was jumping for joy soon after when boyfriend Aiden Heslop scooped his second successive win here and landed the men's title with the last dive of the day.
Some competitors choose to have a heart-rate monitor attached, to give the crowd and people watching on TV some insight into just how fast the adrenaline really is pumping.
For Englishman Aiden, his heart was beating at a whopping 160 beats per minute. To put that into context, those kind of elevated numbers are only seen during bouts of seriously intensive cardio exercise.
"I don't normally look at the numbers on the screen as I'm preparing to dive," he said. "I did this time yet I never know if it being so high is helpful or not. I guess it was good. "
It certainly was - his four back somersaults with three twists in a pike position were perfection and saw him crowned champ.
Unlike the platform divers who will compete in this summer's Olympic Games in France, these cliff jumpers land feet first.
The margins for error are ridiculously small, and accidents can happen.
In the practice earlier in the day, Romanian Catalin Preda mistimed his entrance to the water and was quickly hauled out of danger by the group of divers waiting at the bottom for any mishaps or problems.
As he was lifted into a stretcher, put in a neck brace, and taken to hospital, it was easy to immediately think the worst.
Thankfully, he was discharged soon after, but here was a stark reminder of the dangers involved.
"Sometimes I'm on the platform and I'm thinking 'what if I die?' " admitted American James Lichtenstein, who was pipped into second place.
"This is real but you always remember the consequences."
Some VIP visitors were given a tour of the platform - 90 ft high for men, 70 ft for women - and one plucky soul confirmed it wasn't for the faint hearted.
"When I got to the edge, I developed a deeper appreciation for supplemental life insurance," said local John Santon with a relieved smile.
The divers hit the water at speeds exceeding 52 mph, with air time just 2.7 seconds. It's an amazing spectacle, and every stop on the world tour presents different challenges.
On July 20th, when the roadshow arrives at a remote location on the Causeway coast in Northern Ireland, there will be no crowds. The platform erected in front of Boston's picturesque Institute of Contemporary Arts, will be replaced by a natural cliff face.
"It's absolutely different," admitted wildcard American Kaylea Arnett who was competing in her first Red Bull event and bagged a brilliant second place. "The cliffs can be slippery and awkward. But it's all fun for me."
She has been diving in shows up until now, but was loving every moment of her debut.
"There's more pressure here," she added. " Before if I got a dive wrong I still got paid. Now, I need to bring the bacon home, and that means you have to deliver."
Kaylea revealed she keeps the demons at bay on the platform by talking to herself out loud, and verbally giving herself a boost before soaring through the air.
You could see her on Saturday afternoon jumping up and down on the platform, dancing to the music and lapping up the atmosphere.
People were cheering on from a nearby apartment block, and a number of yachts pulled up for a few hours to take in all the thrills and spills.
Her tools worked a treat, and now the tour heads to Europe for dates in Italy, Northern Ireland, Norway before three final dates with destiny in Montreal, Turkey and Australia.
The climax to the world series takes place in Sydney, home to the most dominant cliff diver in the world, and the winner in Beantown, Rhiannan Iffland.
The Australian sensation has won a staggering 36 of the 45 events staged - women competitions were introduced in 2014, five years after the first ever Red Bull series - and is the girl to beat.
"It's getting more difficult, but I know what my dive will be like by how I am feeling mentally," she said.
"I love the energy of the crowd. I don't like to feel alone up there."
For rival Molly, however, working on the mental side of her performance has been a long, and at times, difficult journey.
After missing out on Olympic qualification in 2016, she stepped away from competing to deal with some mental issues, which began to manifest themselves into eating disorders.
She felt the strain of trying to emulate her fellow competitors, yet Molly has returned with a clear mind and a happy heart - thanks in part to her advocacy group The Brave Gang, which has amassed 3.8 million TikTok subscribers.
"There's way more important things in life than what you look like," she said.
"Brave Gang is a space where you can be yourself and learn to be kind to yourself."
Away from understanding technique and mental application, one question remained.
Are cliff divers actually insane?
"Absolutely," laughed Molly. "We hear that way too much but I am travelling around the world and diving with my man. It's a pretty good life."
7
