“It’s her! It’s her!” About ten young fans are gathered at the Grand Quai in the Old Port of Montreal, where the Red Bull Cliff Diving training session has just ended. These fans all want to meet the same diver: Molly Carlson.
When they see her coming, they scream. And so does she. She takes the time to hug all the young people and, above all, to take pictures with them.
Carlson may have been ranked No. 2 in the world, but it’s not her athletic prowess that young people are talking about. It’s her increased presence on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. The Fort Frances, Ont., diver has become an icon for mental health and body positivity.
After her photo with Carlson, young Maïka Lafrenière has a smile from ear to ear.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE LAFRENIÈRE FAMILY
Maïka Lafrenière and Molly Carlson
“With what she does, she helps others feel good. I like her personality. She is really nice, she loves everyone. She has no meanness in her,” lists Maïka.
This was their second meeting this month. Maïka, also a diver, had insisted on posing with her idol during a press conference held in Montreal earlier this month.
“She told me to keep working hard, to believe in myself,” says Maïka, whose jersey now bears the signature of her favourite.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Divers jump from a 27 or 21 m high platform.
Brave
Unlike Maïka, most of the fans who waited to meet Carlson are not athletes.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Molly Carlson
“They’re mostly young girls who have anxiety,” explains the star of the day, Molly Carlson. “It was important for me to get out quickly to meet them. I didn’t even take the time to change, I wanted to do it right away.”
When she talks, Carlson wears a pendant and sandals bearing a particular label: Brave Gang.
On social media, Carlson has made the term popular. She calls on people to share their daily mental health challenges. And, most importantly, to do so with courage.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Spectators watch divers training
The creation of the #BraveGang has caused a stir. Young people are wearing bracelets that mention it. Other athletes are even using the phrase, including swimmer Thomas Vanderbrook, para hockey player Raphaëlle Tousignant and divers Caeli McKay and Simone Leathead.
“It’s very inspiring, very motivating,” says Montreal diver Simone Leathead. “She does it in such an open, honest way. It helps people understand how tough our sport is.”
“When I first shared that I was living with anxiety and depression, I didn’t know other people would be so respectful,” says Molly Carlson, who has 480,000 followers on Instagram.
Personal issues
Carlson still deals with mental health challenges on a daily basis. But his situation was once much more precarious.
As she tried to qualify for the Olympic diving team in Rio, Carlson couldn’t help but compare herself to the others. She stood at 5’8″, nearly 6″ taller than the other competitors.
Normally, his tall stature would have been enviable. But in the world of diving, where a sharp splash can cost you medals, the situation is quite different.
Wanting to compensate for the disadvantages of his large size, Carlson developed an unhealthy fixation on his weight. This resulted in problems with binge eating disorder and body dysmorphia.
Struggling with her personal issues, Carlson was unable to qualify for the Canadian Olympic team. This exclusion was the catalyst for her to take charge of her mental health and, later, create the Brave Gang.
“When I speak, when I say what’s going on with me, I can only be a winner on the platform,” she says with her eternal smile.
By her own admission, she remains “really intense” about mental health issues. Her trainer, Stéphane Lapointe, remains very sensitive to them.
“For him, if we keep our smiles on our faces this week, that’s the most important thing,” comments the Montreal resident, in very respectable French.
Molly Carlson has every reason to smile. After the first day of training, the judges gave her the highest score of the 12 participants. All this, in front of her family, her friends and, most importantly, her Brave Gang.
“I’m really proud of this,” she said. “It’s like a dream.”
At 16, Molly Carlson would have found it scarier to discuss mental health openly than to jump 60 feet into the water. Now, the opposite is true. And that’s good for her, and for the community that benefits from her posts.