"Fear keeps me focused."

The “Duke of Dive” in interview: Orlando Duque on his emotions during the jump, his most dangerous project and the moment when even a freediver turns into a scaredy-cat.

At the Red Bull Dive in New Year, you dove from different bridges in Rome into the icy Tiber on New Year’s Day. What made this event especially appealing to you, and in what ways is it a sporting challenge?

Other divers have done this for many years and it was a pleasure and a great honor for me to be able to continue this tradition. However, especially the water temperature presented a real challenge, because it was freezing cold and we spent about 2 hours in the water. The unknown parts of the river presented another problem - we did check the water depth in advance but we were not really sure about the entire underwater area, so we had to land on a pretty small spot.

Most people don’t realize just how dangerous your sport actually is. What are the risks involved each time you jump, and do you have any experience with dives that have gone wrong?

I have been doing this for a long time, which is why it probably looks pretty easy, but in fact it’s quite difficult. A lot of preparation is needed to actually step onto a cliff and decide to jump, because once you are in the air there is nothing to stop you except for the water. The most dangerous and crucial part of the dive is the water entry. If you misjudge the water entry, you run the risk of hurting yourself badly - and if you land flat from great heights you will be lucky to come out of the water alive.

You once said: “Fear is a part of any freefall.” How do you deal with the fear that goes hand in hand with each dive? What is it that drives you to voluntarily lay yourself open to this kind of fear?

Fear is what keeps me focused on what I need to do, and it always reminds me of the steps that are necessary to perform a safe dive. Being too confident and careless can have fatal consequences on your way down. But the reward for all the risks and the fear is that indescribable feeling after a succesfull dive. It’s that feeling that keeps me going.

How do you prepare for a dive? Can you describe the emotional phases you go through before and during the dive?

The mental and physical preparation for a dive actually takes a long time. For example, I already start thinking about the dives I am going to perform one year in advance, and I am training exclusively for these particular dives. As the competition approaches, I try to visualize the dives over and over in my mind; and at the day of the event, the most important thing is not to freak out and stay calm. The best part of each dive are the last seconds before you push off. It feels as if you were alone in the world, and the next thing you know is you’re in the air. Even though you actually only spend a short period of time in the air, it feels like an eternity. When you’re finally in the water, a wave of happiness runs through your veins.

You worked as a stuntman at an amusement park for some time and also have some experience as an actor. Is this another string to your bow and something which you would like to get into more in the future?

I’m always open to new interesting projects. I’ve been lucky to appear on shows, do stunts and act in the movie “9dives”. If the opportunity arises, I will be happy to do some more work in those fields.

What seems crazy to the awestricken onlooker is apparently quite normal to a cliff-diver of your calibre. What’s the most insane thing you’ve ever done?

While filming the movie “9dives” I did a dive at a waterfall in Austria. The characteristics of the location where very dangerous, I had to land on a very small spot that was deep enough to land safely. Besides, I had to get a good push off in order to avoid a collision with any of the rocks on the way down. It took eight takes to get the final shot and still I was only about 3 ft away from the rocks that surrounded the landing spot. It wasn’t the highest dive but I remember it as one of the most challenging ones.

You make the average person look like a wimp and a coward. Might we take comfort in the fact that you may be overanxious in other areas of life? Are you afraid of spiders or flying, for example?

The only thing I can think of is that I’m a little afraid of the dark when I’m alone. I try to push this feeling aside when it arises, but I can’t help it. So in this particular respect, I guess you could call me a wimp, too J.

As a multiple World Champion the bar is set very high for you in terms of sporting achievements. What are your sporting goals for the future?

I have won the World Championships a couple of times and I guess I have achieved pretty much everything there is to achieve in this sport. I still like the competiton and enjoy this particular phase of my life. But at this point I also try to be a role model for younger people, especially in my home country Colombia, and encourage them to do sports and stay out of trouble.