© Tove Petterson / Barcroft Media
Super mum Heather Swan is inspiring women everywhere after she turned herself from a “safe corporate mum” into a multiple world record-holding BASE jumper.
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And what makes her even more unique – the high-flying exec didn’t start jumping out of planes and throwing herself off ledges until she was 38.
In her incredible new book the 47-year-old wonder woman – one half of the only husband and wife BASE jumping team on the planet – tells the breathtaking story of how she transformed from businesswoman to adrenaline junkie skydiver and base jumper.
© Tove Petterson / Barcroft Media
These heart-stopping pictures show how the woman with no former outdoors experience eventually made a gruelling 23-hour climb up colossal 6,672m Mt. Meru in Garwhal Himalaya, India, and then threw herself off wearing a ‘wingsuit’.
Wingsuits are specially adapted bodywear for skydivers and BASE jumpers. Flaps of material running across the gaps between arms and legs increase drag for jumpers and allow them to glide like a flying squirrel.
The May 2006 Mt. Meru BASEclimb – a combination of mountaineering and BASE jumping – cemented Aussie Heather’s transition from boardroom executive to world record holding daredevil. She and husband Glen Singleman had smashed a previous record set in 1999 for highest ever BASE jump.
© Tove Petterson / Barcroft Media
But the determined duo were only able to complete their daring feat after earlier attempts on different peaks were thwarted by atrocious high-altitude weather and world events, such as when 9/11 collided with their 2001 attempt to set the new record.
Brave Heather’s life was turned upside down when she married adventure-loving hubby Glen Singleman, 51, in 1998.
A medical doctor at Sydney hospital, Glen lived a double life between working on the wards and throwing himself at the great outdoors in every way he could after hours.
But a year after biting her nails at home with the kids while he took off in small planes and jumped out of them wearing a parachute, she finally decided to try herself.
© Tove Petterson / Barcroft Media
“I’d never done anything like jumping out of a plane, or even thought about it,” said Heather. “I’d never even been camping.
“My first jump was not until a year after we married and I found it terrifying. Before then I’d been just a safe corporate mum working hard at my desk and chatting at the watercooler.”
Changing her life completely, Heather, from Sydney, had previously been more interested in climbing corporate ladders than mountains.
But she soon found she was hooked on the thrills her new life.
Six years after her first skydive she began BASE jumping in 2005.
© Tove Petterson / Barcroft Media
“It took me a long time to conquer a natural inhibition of throwing myself off mountains,” she said. “Somehow BASE jumping seemed more real and more dangerous than a skydive.
“Plus you’ve the added danger of plummeting next to a jagged cliff face.”
But sheer determination and hard training in the male-dominated world of extreme sports saw her overcome her fears.
She even had to battle horrific injuries and spent days laid up in hospital.
“I was badly injured in a bungee jumping accident and perforated my small intestine,” she said.
“I spent a number of weeks in hospital in Invercargill in New Zealand and then four months recovering back at home in Sydney.”
© Tove Petterson / Barcroft Media
In an amazing twist to her tale, Heather reckons her new life taking part in eye-blistering world record attempts is less mentally gruelling than the office or parenting.
Heather, who left her corporate management job to become a full-time daredevil and author, said: “The world record was the hardest thing I’ve probably ever done. Mind you it’s not as tough as being a mum of four. I find myself going base jumping just to relieve the stress sometimes.
“Looking back I realise going to a board meeting was more stressful than jumping from a plane.
© Tove Petterson / Barcroft Media
“Now I have the training I need, I actually find it’s a good way to let off steam. Some people do yoga, I jump out of a plane. That’s my idea of relaxing now.”
Heather’s jaw-dropping story No Ceiling was published in Australia in August and she is now waiting to make a deal with a UK publisher. She also tours as a motivational speaker, urging women that anything is possible with determination.
The fearless couple’s highest BASE altitude record from their incredible Mt Meru jump still stands. It is also the world record for the highest ever wingsuit BASE jump.
Words by Liam Miller
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