Cliff diver Iris Schmidbauer: With a special psychological trick to the European title

Created: 2022-08-21Updated: 2022-08-21 10:48 am

By: Paul Hopp

Iris Schmidbauer after winning the EM title in high diving at the title fights in Rome.

© Gregorio Borgia/dpa

Iris Schmidbauer won the cliff diving title at the European Swimming Championships in Rome.

In the dramatic finish, she resorted to a psychological trick before the final jump.

Rome – When the German national anthem sounds, there is an expression of embarrassment on Iris Schmidbauer's face for a split second.

With her hands she kneads the little plush dog, which was also presented to the medal winners.

Then her face opens - it's a smile, but a shy one.

Iris Schmidbauer wins historic competition

It was the first time that Iris Schmidbauer was on the podium at a really big event, in first place at that - and then at an event that is historic for her discipline.

For the first time, "high diving", i.e. diving from heights of more than ten meters, took place within a European swimming championship.

This means an additional upgrade for the sport.

"It's super cool to be at the European Championships with all the other disciplines," said the 27-year-old from Pähl in a TV interview.

And smiled afterwards: "It feels so official." She was "so grateful" for having the opportunity to take part in the EM premiere.

Now the hope is "that we will soon be Olympic".

The program of the swimming world championships has included "cliff jumping", the expression reminiscent of the origins of the extreme sport, since 2013. At that time, a certain Anna Bader from Germany won bronze in the women's event.

Anna Bader is Schmidbauer's role model

"She was actually the reason why I started high diving," said Schmidbauer.

She saw the competition in Barcelona and said to herself: "I want to do that too." Bader, now 38 years old and a mother of two, was also there in Rome.

She almost stood next to Schmidbauer on the podium - she was only 2.4 points short of third place, which the Italian Elisa Cosetti (20 years old) took.

Speaking of Italy: The EM hosts, who have always been a water sports nation, have fully involved their high divers in the promotion.

In Rome there were some young Italian talents at the start, both women and men, who can stir up the scene in the future.

In Germany, the athletes (still) have to finance themselves.

Rome was worth a trip: Iris Schmidbauer (center) won the European Champion title in high diving ahead of Antonina Vyshyvanova (left) and Elisa Cosetti.

Anna Bader as a great role model © FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

Schmidbauer, who was born in Puchheim, grew up in Pähl, went to high school in Weilheim up to the tenth grade and did her Abitur in Unterhaching, completed her first competition in cliff diving in 2014. Before that, she had practiced art and high diving at the SG Stadtwerke München.

She had her very first experiences at the diving platform in Utting am Ammersee.

In the extreme version – women jump from 20 meters in competitions, men from 27 meters – the staker showed talent.

In 2016 she made her debut at the FINA World Cup in Abu Dhabi, finishing ninth out of ten athletes.

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Schmidbauer has been cliff diving since 2014

In the same year she was allowed to take part in the "Red Bull Cliff Diving" series for the first time and received a starting place for the competition in Polignano a Mare (Italy).

When it comes to cliff jumping, the Red Bull Series is something like Formula 1 in motorsport – everyone wants to go there, and the best cavort there.

Schmidbauer was last on her debut, but convinced the organizers with her jumps.

Since then she has been a regular guest.

In 2021 she was even there for a season as a fixed starter.

Corona meant a difficult time for Schmidbauer, who studied and trained in "Sports Therapy and Injury Rehabilitation" in Plymouth from 2015 to 2018.

She was stuck in New Zealand longer than planned, and there were no competitions.

Studies in Plymouth, long stay in New Zealand

To date, the top positions have often been out of reach for Schmidbauer.

In 2019 she missed a podium place at the Red Bull event in Beirut by finishing fourth by a tenth of a point.

At the World Championships in 2017 (10th place) and 2019 (8th), she ended up in midfield.

The staker, who trains with Boris Rosenberg (Dresden), remained ambitious and diligent.

She now manages the most difficult jumps that women are currently doing.

These include a handstand jump (shown in the second round) and the backward jump triple salto stretched with two twists that Schmidbauer dared in the final round.

The great execution and the absolutely successful immersion phase made winning the title perfect in front of Antonina Vyshyvanova (Ukraine) and Cosetti.

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"I tried to concentrate on each jump individually," said Schmidbauer after the coup.

In the final, when she was third from last, she resorted to a psychological trick.

Just before the jump, she looked down from the platform at the surrounding green trees.

"I tried to absorb that.

Green is my favourite colour.

It calms me down.” She is “super happy” with EM gold.