Champion diver Rhiannan Iffland has opened up about the moment she instantly regretted ignoring a "men-only" warning sign at a popular water park in Austria.
What happened
The Australian athlete, a seven-time Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion, was visiting water park Area 47 earlier this month when she decided to go down a slide restricted to men only, filming the ride for social media in the hope of encouraging other women not to be discouraged by restrictions.
Why the slide is restricted to men
The slide reaches speeds of around 50mph, and the men-only restriction reportedly exists due to a genuine medical risk to women, with reports of serious internal injuries occurring when high-pressure water enters the body at speed. According to the US National Library of Medicine, this kind of injury can also carry a risk of infection from foreign material entering the body through the water stream. Iffland said she hadn't realised the seriousness of the risk beforehand, having assumed restrictions were more likely based on factors like height or weight, but said she knew she'd made a mistake almost as soon as she sat down on the slide.
Her response afterward
Reflecting on the experience, Iffland told news.com.au: "It was never my intent to mock the safety regulations of this water slide. A person's safety is paramount, and I am constantly weighing up any danger with my job. To suggest otherwise is wrong." Despite the ordeal, she remained lighthearted about it on social media, captioning one post: "Here for a good time not a long time! Another YOLO moment."
