Jeremy Nicollin Cliff Diving Interview

Perfect all right without any further Ado we are recording and uh Joe take it away awesome hey what’s going on everybody uh from Korea go to bfo uh I’m Joe and I’m Jason and this is chasing Infinity where we meet people who have constantly pushed the limits of human capabilities through adventure and extreme sports uh Jason would you like to introduce Our Guest today it will be my honor absolutely positively today we are joined by Jeremy nicolon Jeremy is an outdoor adventure athlete who mainly focuses on cliff diving but also goes skiing and Mountaineering Jeremy is a five-time French champion in

javelin throw Jeremy welcome to the show and thank you very very much for being here first question for you Jeremy correct me if I’m wrong here but apart from being a pro athlete in javelin throw Europe participated in won competitions in long jump and triple jump is that correct hi everybody so firstly I’m very happy to be today with you here awesome to answer the question yes um in track and field when we are younger we start with every discipline we we do every we throw we jump we run we Sprint we do everything and so uh me I was uh good in in much discipline but I specialize in Javelin and one time a year there is a

competition for the club where we have to we have there is to be two male athletes two familiar athletes by disciplines so for this competition it’s called Uh inter Club in France uh I did a long jump and triple jump and also Javelin from for the club and uh because I was good in the in these two discipline to speculate it I see so that’s how he became both disciplines because you were competitive and very good in both disciplines yes I agree all right very good second question and now that you’ve left track and field and chosen to become a full-time extreme sports athlete tell us about why you did it and about that transition from Athletics to

extreme sports uh first of all I I can’t I can’t say I am a full-time cliff diver because I work I I work for a company I am I’m product manager for Opel the Mets it’s a the sunglasses and Gracie’s Brown in France and uh so I choose after tracking field to do keep diving because from my younger age I did this Sports at eight years old I I jumped from uh 10 meters in canyoning near my house it’s about 10 minute walk from from my house so I always liked this box but while I did track and field I can’t take too much risk in other sports because if I have a injuries because of that it’s a big problem so uh when you are an alphago I had a

job proposition for my actual work and uh in track and field I I was on the end I I had a little injuries but uh didn’t allow me to reach a new level in German Pro because uh yeah I can’t at the end I can’t express my my 100 because that’s only in German for but in other sports I can do everything at 100 so when I have the job proposition I took it and so uh every weekend I can go do other sports and no I have no limits because of the track and field you know so I can do everything I want so in Winter I do ski a lot and in summer I do keep diving and so I started to do more and more videos of that with uh more and more technical jump and

higher jumps and uh in maybe people like it because I know I have a more than 100 000 followers on Instagram and a million of viewers in my video and uh I’m happy to do that and if people are happy to see my gems it’s so cool beyond amazing absolutely phenomenal thank you truly an honor seriously Jeremy I understand that in a previous interview you mentioned that your father is your Mentor now you mentioned that you did that was it 30 meter no 10 me 10 meter 10 meter jumping like 10 years old at eight years old yes eight years old eight only eight years old so obviously your father your father had a big inspiration and guiding you towards this can you explain more about how he became like your Mentor was he was he a diver as well yes I I grew up in uh jurass

mountains in France it’s a middle uh high mountain it’s the the higher is one thousand and uh 650 meters and uh near my house at 10 minutes works there is a little canyon where you can jump in a small pool of water like uh four meters large four meters long it’s a circle of four meters diameter and you can jump on it from different eights and so my father bring us with my sister and my brother are very young in this Canyon and so I did my first jump there and uh I liked it a lot there was there was very good sensation it was fun so so I start like like that with my father and so my first jump it was uh follow my father so when you go higher I follow him and so so I liked it so I continued

to do it all my life outstanding um no I just started something and you know this is this is off off off Target you know a little bit but have you ever because when you’re diving I would imagine you’re practicing those flips and the turns and you know and everything have you ever done like a trampoline training to to kind of help with the flips and no very little I do only uh simple tricks my biggest tricks is a double A and uh depth from with a half rotation in the second front flip it’s called uh it’s called Uh I don’t know the name already of the second tricks but I do my biggest tricks is the double double flip so double flat very complicates to do so maybe in my uh I did in all my life maybe a 10th session of trampoline you

know so it’s very it’s easy movement so I start low and uh I go IR when I’m confident with my technique but uh I didn’t do a lot of sampling and but athletes that do more technical tricks than me like triple like uh quadruple with a spin on it has to train a lot yes in trampoline and uh in gym Cool Joe I think you were going to jump in with something there you get a comment yeah so I was just gonna go on the same topic you know uh because cliff diving involves a lot of lot of risk right especially when people look from the outside it’s like a really scary sport so can you just talk talk to us about how do you prepare physically and mentally uh for such a sport such as cliff diving yes yes yes it’s very dangerous abuse obvious obviously when I go to when I

jump from 30 meters we I arrive in the water at 100 kilometers per hour so it’s very fast if you don’t follow good it’s not good for you there is a lot of rules uh before jump the first is to check the depth of the water uh to check um the platform where you jump where you put your feet is it okay is it slippery uh do you run before is there a Gap to reach the water Etc all parameters we check it before the jump uh of course we we check if we can go up after the jump because if we are sticking the stuck in the water that’s good too always parameters we check it before for for a

jump at 20 meters and more you need to have like six meter depth to jump farmer in time in uh in swimming pool this summer we did a show in Geneva and there was 20 meters platform and the pool was uh five meters depth okay and I tried to go uh straight in the water and stay straight because in the water you can have a direct different trajectory you know you you can do straight or like this and so if you don’t go straight you don’t go very deep you can jump from 25 meter and go three meters deep it’s depend of your trajectory inside the underwater weather and so at 20 meters if I go all straight that’s a good one I was teaching a at

five meters depth oh because you see these stunts you see people that jump from high meters and you know very very high you know amount of feet or meters into a very shallow shallow pool of water how do they do that how do they because obviously there’s a technique to be able to not hit the bottom of the pool so how do they manage to to slow that momentum when when you Touch the Water the weather is uh you you can have uh you know you can swim in the water you you can perch the weather so it’s not like the air so when you enter you can change your trajectory inside under the water with your moves you know so you can do like that yes yes that’s amazing so that’s how you reduce the impact uh is that right no it’s uh no for the impact you have to be very

strong at the impact this is the Only Rule you have to to be straight not like that very straight and very strong to the impact so to to finish to answer the question yes there is a lot of uh physical preparation for me I train that as a Narita clad for driving through uh while uh 10 years so I I spend a lot of time in a gym to to train my body so I’m strong I’m very strong I can take the impact in the second thing to to take the impact is to do impact so you have to do a lot of jump in the the best rules is to to start low like when meters to matter three meters and you can go up uh to transcend pact in the second parameters is uh in the air in the air

you have to keep your balance to to arrive straight in the water not arrive like that no I don’t have the world I am sorry for my English your English is great Jeremy and so uh you have to to start low and go Iran Ayah to train your balance in ZR2 and train your impact because every time you go higher you have a bigger speed and if your balance is not good the impact will be uh other too so you have to train the both at the same time to go higher and higher and when you feel that uh I at 10 meters you are good you can try uh 12 etc etc and me I go to my highest is 35 meters this year oh oh 35 meters that brings up a great question so from 35 meters as you keep on progressing higher and higher and

higher please walk us through the process Jeremy and how you deal with fear both before and during the actual dive yes uh obviously uh I have fear because jump very sphere it’s normal but it’s a good fear you know uh I did a lot of preparation for for a jump like that I did a lot of jump in the same day before 20 meters with the back flip because I did a backflip at 35 and all the months before I did a lot of jump at 20 25 27 30 meters and uh so every time I have uh on every jump I have here but uh I’m it’s a fear that that make me focus on my targets and so if you have no no fear you you can cannot be focused and maybe you will

uh uh forget one parameter on another in a way when you are feeling it push you to to be very um uh you know to to analyze everything into your into every parameter and icons and and we can check everything and and every checkup is good but then you have a confidence and so at this moment you have the confidence you you have the confidence to to to to go and jump you know it’s uh it’s a fear is not a good feeling but it’s the start of the of a good Circle to um to jump to to to attempt your target to reach your targets so so all comes from uh from fear but first before the fear you have to your object is your target you want to

do something this thing bring you fear but because of fear you check everything and so it brings you confidence and then you can do it do you have certain breathing exercises or certain things that you do with your breath to kind of or Channel your energy Channel you’ll achieve e to get you into that state of mind to properly manage that stress um not every time I I know a lot of athletes do that but for me uh I think it comes naturally because uh I can’t see myself doing that you know not naturally I do that because it seems a process but uh I don’t say oh okay I’m I have I’m stressed so I will do an exercise of respiration of briefing so no I don’t do that uh especially for that it come naturally uh

to come down before the jump yes of course you have to to be focused and uh but I don’t need that I think it’s natural for me but a lot of athletes uh do briefing exercise yes too yeah I mean Focus before the jump or of the exercise I love it you know so go ahead Joe yeah listen go ahead I was just going to uh ask you I have you know just a interesting question that popped in my mind right now um you know you you you’re doing this as a passion you love it you have a huge following have you ever thought about pursuing it professionally full time I know you’re balancing it between your work full time to support you and your family um but have you ever thought about potentially doing it full time you see those divers that you know for example I’ve been on cruises before and they have a shallow shallow pool of water and they’re diving from high I am meter you

know platforms into a very shallow pool I know they probably don’t pay very well on a cruise and you’d be away from family but have you ever as there opportunities for divers like yourself and you ever thought about pursuing it full-time uh there is two way to to live from uh cliff diving the first is uh to be a professional athlete and do uh like the the Red Bull cliff diving you know yep but uh this way is not for me because uh Red Bull cave diving is like uh gymnastic you know you have to to keep your friends made uh it’s it’s uh it’s like ski acrobatic diving is acrobatic skill and me I’m more a freestyle diver right and so for me there is no competition uh

actually uh the only competition in high diving in cliff diving is a Red Bull keep diving it’s it’s gymnastic and uh so for me the way to to live from my patient yes uh is to uh sponsor you know so if uh if sponsor can can give me money to to do project to do this video for them to to create content uh yes I can do that professionally and and I’d like to to do that but for the moment I have to work to to go on weekend and do my uh my jam my sports that I like but yes it can be uh it’s a target for me to to do only uh cliff diving and skiing and Outdoor Sports all the year with a sponsor yes and create contents but it’s difficult I see yeah it’s

really great to hear I like the fact that you’re playing freestyle you’re staying you know to your own creative way of doing this I love that Jeremy a little plug for you now a little plug for you because you mentioned you know that your sponsors or a certain person or certain company you didn’t say that exact words but if the right opportunity is somebody wanted you to come jump at a certain location and it’s awfully safe you check the depth you check the edge make sure you’re not going to slip and fall but obviously if travel expenses were all paid for what would it be approximately maybe you know it’s case-by-case situation you have to talk to the people individually but what would it take to to get the word out there for you that you’re available to go jump someplace let’s say from 30 meters um you know all travel expenses paid and you’re gone for a weekend you know what would be your rate or what would be your fee and maybe you can’t answer it you know over the on the moment in here like this and you’d have to evaluate it but I was just kind of curious just wanted to

plug you a little bit my face to to go in a weekend and jump but it depends uh where I go jump so if I go in France uh baika or it’s not uh very expensive but if I go for two weeks in uh or United States you have to to pay the plane of course of course of course the the car rents the gas and the food so so I don’t know it can go from uh 100 euros that we can at uh at uh it’s Infinity you know it’s Infinity I go to United States and do three weeks uh uh Rod um road trip with gems can be in uh in thousand and thousands of uh of Dora okay perfect perfect it depends of the project and after if we want to create content yes the different kind of

qualities of um if I create myself the content only me I will take my GoPro and put it in my mouth with the attach and film in uh in POV or with the stick but if I want to create a very good um content for company I will go with uh with a video maker a professional video make video maker and I will have to to pay him and so at that time it will be more and more expensive I understand perfect yeah it can be like 800 dollars the day or more more and more sure sure I understand perfect I love it that’s awesome oh my gosh phenomenal yeah you have a question yeah uh what I wanted to ask you is that you you started cliff diving at a very young age and then you move on

moved on to professional Athletics uh you did javelin throw for a while I mean for quite some years and then you came back to cliff diving so how did that transition feel like was it difficult or was it was it really easy for you to get back into diving no it was uh not difficult because it was finally very natural I was professional athlete and then one day with the job opportunity I stopped uh at one time track and field uh it’s not I continue to do track and field I stopped completely stopped one years and a half ago I always did the cliff diving but with uh less risk than today all my life so when uh in off season moment I went in so France and over ayat we do some jumps but I did not the same jump

but I do today you know there was less risk so one day I stopped completely tracking field and then from that moment there is no restriction I have no sacrifice to do to be good in track and field so I can D I can do what I want when I want I just have to work on the week this is the only sacrifice to have money to go in weekends there are so it was very it was a very smooth transition no uh I can do what I want when I want and uh there is no sacrifice because to make because of the track and field so very smooth you’re enjoying the freedom that’s amazing yes yes so I don’t I don’t regret my years of track and field Outlets we’ve sacrificed because it it brings me a lot of things you know when

you you do that you you you challenge yourself every day in a spot and do sacrifices he uh uh uh I must find the world to the world in English to say that but uh it it first it brick it brings you a lot of confidence because you you did a lot of things you have a bad moment you you undergone this bad moment to to be better and have good moments in your sports um you have to to be focused in something so so when when you work after you you are a good mantel and uh you go further than your colleagues sometimes because uh you have this mind of the Challenger you know I don’t know the exact word in English or that but uh I understand but you you train a lot you your mantel when you do a high level Sports in uh and so in so no I have a many

things that I worked as an athlete that I can use now as a worker but as a normal person if I can say yeah yes yes it helps me too for the cliff diving yes of course that is phenomenal there’s so many good things that you learn from the cliff diving you know from the javelin throw and then you can apply a lot of that discipline into your normal work life that’s awesome I have to ask you this dovetails real well into you know a question of the following Jeremy please tell me what is your why what is your why in you doing what you do and what do you value why I do that the okay yeah like why you do what you do and you know what what’s what creates this drive this passion and what do you value in your life I I grew up in a

Sports family every member of my family uh did Sports I did a lot of sports in uh but the thing that I like me is a challenge I always like to challenge challenge myself challenge challenge over do competition in a and see where I can go in every thing I make in my life and be better and better with it so and I like a lot adrenaline too I like the the sensation so every time I do an extreme sport Outdoor Sports there is always uh thing together there is a challenge uh where is the adrenaline there is also the the good moments the moment of sharing with a friends and so every and also it makes you stay healthy and I like to be healthy too so so

everything in uh together it’s uh the the magic uh recipe for me it’s it’s perfect and uh yes I like challenge myself and I like adrenaline I like sharing moments with my friends and uh in cliff diving in uh in uh tracking field at work when you work as a team there is this thing I love it I love it absolutely um got a got a question here for you buddy and if you need to go I think we’re I have not exactly watching the clock per se but I know we’re getting kind of close to 30 minutes are you still okay for a few more minutes yes yes no problem perfect thank you Jeremy there’s a saying opportunities don’t just happen you create them you create the opportunities do you agree with the statement yes yes of course uh the there is luck in life but you can

create luck you know by uh by moving but by the um if you stay at home you create nothing you can’t uh you can provoke your luck you know so by by move by trying something by by um uh well what’s the word for that but um when you go to to see people when you you talk with them when you you fix a target for you Etc you you can uh provoke your luck and uh then good thing happen maybe sometimes it’s bad thing but uh if you have the good mortality you can undergoing this that bad thing and create good thing after so yes you have to to move to to to to to to do things with people you alone to to be active you know to to provoke the thing love it love it love it absolutely amazing question so go ahead Joe

oh okay yeah so my question is are there any short-term goals that you’d like to accomplish in the next couple of years like in terms of cliff diving so is there any Milestones that you’re looking out for or any other accomplish accomplishments that you’re that you want to achieve in the next couple of years yes yes if there is a lot of things that I want to do first there is the winter that’s coming and I want to to diversify more my my content on my Channel with uh more skiing videos in Winter and uh trekking videos in all the year with uh always keep diving uh all the Year too uh I also want to travel more to discover more spots to jam to do my sports because I did a lot of spots in uh in France in

uh in Europe but I want to to go further and uh the good point in keep diving is uh it’s natural environment and uh every time you move you you discover many beautiful places with friends and I want to to go further like that and travel more to discover many plays and uh and you know and um with my Instagram page to to show it to to the people that follow me to to to make them dream to make them want to travel to to jump not necessarily from two from 30 meters but to jump from five meters to to BRP to to challenge themselves and uh and to take pleasure doing sports and uh and seeing my video doing like me or I mean but what they want to I want to develop that and yes if I can uh find some good sponsor to to help me

to to to create content to inspiring inspire people you know uh yes I would be up here just as your father help Mentor you and teach you have you ever now passed the Baton or past the torch and have been mentoring some other younger divers yes yes uh every time we go on the spots in France there is a young daver but but no who we are and uh so we talk with them we talk with the parents in our band of well group in France there is every uh ages no there is a 16 years old people and 30 years old people 23 years old people very very Gap in age in the group so we can yeah we share everybody share with everyone and um and yeah we’ve uh

Instagram with YouTube with the video you can Inspire many many people today and uh and when they come to the spot uh we talk with them in a and yes it’s it’s a good it’s good for everybody for the sport for for people I love it I love it having watched your sorry having watched your content on Instagram I can I can I can tell you that like you’re you’re doing a good job in terms of creating content like the content you have on Instagram is like really amazing so that’s how I you know got to know you and that’s how we are talking we’re having this conversation here that’s so that’s amazing you’re most welcome absolutely as you know chasing Infinity is the name of our show we encourage the continual pursuit of excellence in all areas of Our Lives

as you’d agree improving yourself involves identifying your weaknesses what is one weakness you’ve identified in your life and what are you doing to improve it um yes maybe sometimes I must um I have a lot of confidence in myself and so when you are like that sometimes you don’t hear the other and sometimes you have to to uh more take in account what people say to you to be better yourself you know and not only be like that right your vision and uh and uh yes when people uh sometimes people give you good advice and uh I have to take in more in accounts I think I have to improve on that

awesome okay that’s good it’s very good you you you recognize that you see that and you’re like I I like the fact that you you don’t you’re removing the tunnel vision you’re keeping the blinders off and you have a wide open Vision I love it that’s great last question I have maybe you know Joe has some more after my last question but the last question I have for right now is what is one important lesson you have learned from your time as an athlete because I did a very big mistake uh this summer in Switzerland I did 31.5 meters jump in backflip with a lot of spots with many jump every day and uh I did many many jump above 25 meters

while four days with back flips and I was very very confident maybe too much confidence and um the fifth days we went to a iconic spots in Switzerland in teachino it’s uh yes it’s a 31.5 meters bridge and I wanted to do my back flip so we went there in the end of the in the end of the day and um I was too confident in uh while the preparation I feel I felt there was something not like uh the other day you know it I I have I I had not the same sensation in my mental preparation in my exercise before the jump and uh because I was too confident I didn’t go do a preparation at 20

meters before doing the 31 meters and so when I go do the 21 I failed it and I didn’t um like I did on all the other backflip jump in my life at stage and so uh I failed it and uh I reach the water like that video and my Instagram account there is a bingo packed it’s 100 kilometers per hour in the water and uh and I reach the water on my back in the I had I had a lot of luck because uh oh I there was safety in the water my friend was there yeah and uh they didn’t have to help me go out of the water because I only had a bruises uh nothing broke no no bond broke uh thank God I was here I I didn’t I

don’t know the word but when you like that I don’t know I’m just unconscious because it was not unconscious I was good good and so I went I go out of the water by myself there was my friend as as a safety around me and then I crammed up and uh I took rest and uh yes I had I had a lot of luck because when you do a fail like that uh 99 of people on Earth will be a tetraplegic with bone Brooke or or you your lungs lands uh broke or or dead you know because it’s 100 kilometers per hour impacting the weather it’s uh it’s horrifying and uh yes I had luck I had only bruises and it took me one week of rest to to be good that’s it just one

week recovery yes but so the the listen it’s um when you you do uh thing uh with high risk like uh like a 30 meter jump in water if you if you you cannot be too confident you you must have that fear you know we will talk about that uh yeah before you must keep in mind that that fear you have to have that fear yes if you feel that there is maybe uh one person thing that is not like uh like uh it must be you don’t you must not go maybe you can go but with uh you might do another preparation before I go and I did I didn’t do that uh that jump at 20 meters or to jump at 20 meters to to to um to feel against the good movements

yes it could cost me many more but uh by um versus uh what it cost me you know so wow and and no one has a great uh great lesson great lesson indeed to learn no question about it Jeremy that’s a incredible lesson too even though you know you know deep you know within your heart and mind and you had the confidence you’ve done this routine so many times you know it’s just like clockwork for you it’s like you know as as most people just brush their teeth take a shower and jump in the car and they drive to work they they don’t have to think about it so autopilot you were on autopilot but there we go you’ll even you after so many jumps you still you know learned a very important valuable lesson and and you were being protected there you had you obviously incredible luck that you only walked away with bruises yeah out of that water

on your own accord you didn’t need to be helped and so the fact that you just learned that incredible lesson to still go through that process of not as high not as high go through that 20 meter jump you know first and foremost just to warm your body up you know to go through those those backflips and and to be able to do that normal process but you skip that normal routine that one time and it almost cost you it almost cost you something interesting yes you know I I like the example of um because I play golf too yeah oh cool I guess you have many videos of Tiger Woods yeah the greatest golfer of all time and uh sometimes when he’s at stance in uh he is doing his back swing and when he must go down you have some video when you stop you know because there was something there was someone that says something where there was a fly on the

ball I don’t know I don’t know what he sent but you have to be like Tiger Woods and capable of stop your swing because there is something wrong around you you know and this day I wasn’t able to do that in uh I don’t want to to make my this mistake a second time um I’m sure you’re sharing that Life Learning lesson with the younger divers I’m sure you’ve shared that with other people yes of course because that is invaluable you could save someone’s life potentially potentially save someone from become a paraplegic I’m sure you’ve seen divers that have gotten seriously injured where they can no longer die I’m sure you’ve seen that happen yes yes I have a sometimes message from uh from people that are not trained to jump in a some people uh told me that uh from uh

10 meters the the center the water like a seat position you know and uh the broke your spine or something and uh me from 40 meters I have only Brothers you know so you have to be prepared to do this kind of thing you have to you must have physical preparation you must check this part check everything it’s it’s very important yes and yes I share that with younger people of course and and older too because sometimes older people want to jump too so so I share with everyone awesome Jeremy awesome joke take it away yeah the the last question that I want to ask is what advice would you give to Young athletes just thinking about starting getting started with cliff diving so what’s your one advice one key advice to them well one advice is to take pleasure if
there is no pleasure or don’t go and uh yes check check everything before jump in uh it don’t go too fast uh you have to to go look to start low to go higher after but you have to to validate if each step each step you know go step by step great advice yep that’s amazing