Guest Editor: Morgane Herculano ☀️
TUESDAY | 1.27.26
Welcome to a special guest-edited edition of the Afternoon Delight. You'll see a version of this newsletter here and there when we happen upon the opportunity to sit down and chat with a few of the better people and organizations out there. This gal just so happens to live in one of the Flow buildings in Florida.
Jumping from a platform 20-plus meters in the air isn’t on the daily schedule for most folks. Then again, Morgane Herculano isn’t exactly “most folks.” But despite living life to the extreme as a Red Bull cliff diver and professional high diver, she’s a human at the end of the day. One that we admire greatly. Lucky for us, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Morgane to chat about the feeling of triple backflipping into the deep blue, her favorite page turner these days, and how she prepares for her practice. Thanks for being here, Morgane. Toes pointed.
Flow Trip: Favorite high diving spot?
Morgane Herculano: The Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center is the only 27-meter high diving platform on the continent. It is where I practice every day with former World Champion Steven LoBue. I love the grind. Training in a pool is key before going out and cliff diving in nature.
FT: What do the moments before, during, and after a dive feel like to you — in a few words?
MH: Pressure, automation, exhilarating relief.
FT: How has diving broken down barriers for you and others?
MH: When you’re an athlete, and even more so an extreme sports athlete, you’re constantly pushing the limits of what you thought you could do. It sounds so cheesy, but in a very real sense, when I started, I would look at videos of me jumping from a few days earlier in training and think there’s no way I’m going to be able to do that again. There’s this ego dissociation. When you follow the steps, you know you can get there in the moment. But once you’re removed or even when I just don’t train for a few days, I’m like, “I’ll never be able to jump off that roof. This is crazy.” So, it’s about trusting that I can do things that I never thought I’d be able to do. Trusting that I can get there. I’ll probably never learn to speak Arabic in my life, but you know what? I could. It’s a little bit of this delusional faith in your ability and having faith in your ability to stick to a process.
FT: If you could cliff dive from one place in the world, where would it be?
MH: The 12th floor of Flow Brickell. Kidding, I will not be doing that. At the end of the day, I think I’m lucky enough that I’ve seen a lot of places in my career already. And so it’s more about what you make out of the trip and who you’re going with than the location. But there are spots that would be kind of iconic, like New York or somewhere in the big city — something different.
FT: Your coolest party trick?
MH: The back flip, for sure. Or the worm.
Meanwhile, in the big blue.
Tunes to Train
This playlist might give you superpowers. Particularly ones that instill you with enough confidence to dive off the edge of a windowsill in Italy. The training playlist.
Cottage Cheese Delight
Cottage cheese is a magical food, according to Morgane herself. Mix it with Trader Joe’s Everything Bagel seasoning and a dash of salt, toss it in a wrap with some scrambled eggs and veggies, and voilà. Lunch is served.
Other Good News & Happenings
Something to read. Turns out badass women read about other badass women — checks out.
A stroll on the Underline isn’t a bad way to spend a Tuesday afternoon.
We didn’t ask, but safe to say this is Morgane’s spirit animal.
It’s no mom-and-pop shop in Sardinia, but our source tells us this is where all the cool kids go for ice cream in Miami.
Excellent interview with Morgane. The part about ego dissociation when watching past jumps is so revealing about how the mind processes extreme risk. I did some platform diving back in college and remember that exact feeling of "there's no way I did that." The Fort Lauderdale facility soundslike an incredible training ground.