Cliff Diving
Rhiannan Iffland: 10 years at the top and still looking ahead
Ten consecutive World Series titles have made Rhiannan Iffland the benchmark in women’s cliff diving. At 35, she opens up on the skills, mindset and vulnerability behind a decade of dominance.
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Once in a generation, an athlete emerges whose dominance changes the sport around them – pushing the limits of what's possible, setting new benchmarks and becoming the standard against which greatness is measured. In women's cliff diving, the greatest of all time is none other than Australia's Rhiannan Iffland, who shortly before her 35th birthday secured a record-breaking 10th consecutive Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series title.
GOAT is a tag that gets thrown around freely in sport, but Iffland has the numbers to back it up. Ahead of Polignano a Mare, where she'll make her landmark 60th career start and officially collect her 10th King Kahekili trophy, she's already chalked up 48 wins from 59 starts and 58 career podiums.
The 2026 season finale in Polignano a Mare will mark Iffland's 60th start
© Mauro Puccini/Red Bull Content Pool
Her run of 10 consecutive titles also includes three perfect seasons – 2019, 2021 and 2025 – making her the first diver in World Series history to go an entire season undefeated. And with an 81.4 percent World Series win rate, the likelihood of another podium finish means those numbers are only set to rise.
“Ten consecutive World Series titles,” Iffland recounts, almost in disbelief. “In any sport, that is really an incredible feat. It takes a lot – a LOT – over a period of 10 years to stay at the top of your sport, mentally and physically. If I look back to when I first began my career in 2016, it's actually a crazy thought to me that I would still be at the top of my chosen sport.”
If I look back to when I first began my career in 2016, it's actually a crazy thought to me that I would still be at the top of my chosen sport
Like her friend and fellow competitor Gary Hunt, who brought a new level of innovation and experimentation to men's cliff diving when he burst onto the scene in 2009, Iffland has long defined the women's competition with her ambitious, adventurous nature.
Together, Hunt and Iffland have defined success in cliff diving
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
As a fierce competitor, the World Series champion relishes having rivals hot on her heels and feeds off the adrenaline of the fight. She loves a curveball – those unexpected changes that allow her to test her mettle, whether it’s choppy water, swirling currents and unpredictable conditions, or those raw, rugged locations that bring an element of the unknown and strip the sport back to its purest form.
Then there’s her remarkable composure under pressure. Iffland has become a master of staying calm and in control, rarely appearing rattled… even when the stakes are sky-high.
How has Rhiannan Iffland stayed at the top of cliff diving for a decade?
Iffland’s ability to keep delivering year after year has challenged a familiar narrative in sport: that athletes reach their peak, the competition catches up, and eventually the gap at the top closes until the champion is dethroned or retires. Since arriving in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series as a wildcard in 2016, Iffland has remained the benchmark for the women’s field, even as the standard around her has continued to rise and the winning margins have narrowed.
2026 started with a win in Bali, and will close with a record 10th title
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
“There’s really no other recipe than hard work and consistency,” she says. “That’s what I draw my success back to – the fact that I have stayed in the sport for 20 years. I have woken up every single day… I don’t think there is really a real day off, because you’ve always got that voice in your head thinking, could I be doing something more?”
The 2026 season has shown just how much that winning gap has narrowed recently – at the second stop in St Petersburg, USA, Iffland was beaten to the top of the podium by American Kaylea Arnett by just 0.1 points. In Mostar, where Iffland secured the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series title at the penultimate stop last month, she edged out Canada's Molly Carlson by just 1.6 points.
The results have been closer than ever, but Iffland continues her reign
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
And while the margins are getting tighter, and the competition tougher, Iffland is still finding a way to come out on top. By taking the Mostar victory, she also surpassed Gary Hunt's all-time record of 47 World Series wins – reaching the milestone in just 59 starts compared to Hunt's 104.
Why there are no easy wins
Iffland is clearly proud of the major role she's played in setting the trajectory of women's cliff diving since her arrival on the scene in 2016.
“I was one of the pioneers of the sport, along with a lot of other girls that started back 10 years ago or more, and I think you do need that kind of trailblazer to step up the level,” she says. “The level is rising a lot in the women's field and I'm so happy to have been a part of it. It's such an empowering sport.”
Iffland celebrates making the big 10 with Molly Carlson
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
But she's also the first to acknowledge that maintaining her winning form is getting harder – the standard she helped create is now the one she has to keep surpassing. And there are no secret formulas or shortcuts:
“It's definitely practice, practice, practice makes perfect,” she states. “Obviously it's gotten harder over the years because the women's field is getting stronger and stronger and the gap is definitely narrowing. And that's a brilliant thing. But I think it also drives me, because I do want to stay in this sport and I want to see where it goes for the women. I want to be a part of that.”
Iffland wants to keep pushing the limits from 21m
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
What keeps Rhiannan Iffland motivated in cliff diving?
Iffland’s longevity and success have put her in the rare company of athletes whose names have become inseparable from their sport. But one athlete in particular has inspired her to keep pushing: fellow Australian and 38-year-old eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore. It’s a fitting connection for Iffland, a Newcastle native who has been passionate about surfing since childhood.
“Listening to her talk and some of the podcasts she has done has been very inspiring… just the way that she continued and was so persistent over such a number of years while still living a lifestyle that she loved was very, very inspiring to me,” she explains.
Iffland's background includes surfing, trampolining and diving
© Ricardo Nascimento/Red Bull Content Pool
“She also was always out chasing the perfect waves, or just trying to stay passionate about the sport. And that for me was definitely a big one. I once listened to an interview that Stephanie Gilmore did, and she said: ‘This sport has shaped me, but it doesn't define me as a person.’ And I found that very cool. I think having that kind of balance between you as an athlete or as a competitor and then still keeping that essence of yourself outside of it is a real big one.” she adds.
I think having that kind of balance between you as an athlete or as a competitor and then still keeping that essence of yourself outside of it is a real big one
Adapting to the challenges
That balance Iffland describes is put to the test every time she steps onto the platform. At 35, Iffland is still performing at the highest level in a sport that places huge physical demands on the body.
Preparing for launch
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
Launching from the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series platform once takes serious courage. Doing it time and again while continuing to perform at the top of a world-class field requires a level of commitment and preparation that goes far beyond the three seconds of each dive. It means maintaining the physical condition needed to train, travel and compete year after year, and putting in the work long before she reaches the platform.
Iffland has absorbed those forces for almost a third of her life, dealing with the inevitable knocks that come with the sport and missing just one event through injury. Staying at the top has meant adapting the way she trains, listening to what her body needs rather than simply doing things the way she always has.
“Things have changed over the years. I'm not getting any younger,” Iffland says. “I think the way that I train now is way different to, let's say, five years ago, because sometimes your body just doesn't keep up with your mind. Sometimes that passion gets in the way of that, because you're really trying to push somewhere where your mind is; your body just doesn't follow the same as it used to.”
Three ingredients of cliff diving: precision, power, and paradise
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
“Having passion and drive in my sport is still the key. What it does look like day-to-day is having a drive to show up, and even if you're not feeling a hundred percent – just to be there and to give something. If there isn't an opportunity for me to train before a competition, I will one hundred percent travel somewhere that I can. Over the years, it's been about making sure that I consistently put in the work and the effort, and still find the joy in the sport. Still have fun.”
That willingness to keep showing up has been a constant throughout Iffland’s career. Now, maintaining that standard means not only keeping her body ready to compete, but continuing to find the drive to keep coming back.
Over the years, it's been about making sure that I consistently put in the work and the effort, and still find the joy in the sport. Still have fun
How to keep winning with a target on your back
The physical demands are only part of the equation. After a decade at the top, being the diver the rest of the field is chasing creates another pressure point.
“The hardest thing is most definitely the pressure that you put on yourself each time to perform,” Iffland admits. “If you're constantly at the top of the field, then even a second place can feel like a disappointment, even though within myself I know that it's not, because I'm proud of everything that I've done already.
Iffland is open about the challenges of staying at the top
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
“That’s a real mind game, because a second place is amazing, but then you may be a little bit disappointed in yourself. And sometimes I step back and go, 'Hang on a minute, why am I disappointed in that? That was an incredible result and an incredible performance.'
Iffland also admits there’s a less visible flip side to her success:
“I'd say it's harder to stay at the top than to chase for it. And having that target on your back is not always the nicest thing,” she adds with a laugh. "Sometimes it gets lonely at the top, but that's just how it is."
Sometimes it gets lonely at the top, but that's just how it is
Highs and lows: what keeps a 10-time World Series champion motivated
Navigating the highs and lows of elite competition – and never letting any doubts linger for too long – has been key to Iffland’s longevity. But that mindset was forged early in her diving career, during an experience that could easily have put her off the sport altogether.
In 2015, the then-24-year-old Australian arrived in Abu Dhabi for her first appearance at the World Aquatics World Cup. But unlike the calm and focused diver we know today, Iffland found herself overwhelmed by the occasion.
"I completely bombed out because I let all of the fears, the nerves, the adrenaline completely overwhelm me," she recalls. "Coming in and having a competition like that as your first taste of what the sport has to offer left me pretty down. Not knowing whether I was going to continue, or if I should find something else. It was a hard pill to swallow – but I guess in the end it turned out to be a defining moment in my career and in how I was going to tackle the tasks that came to me."
Throwback: Jonathan Paredes bigs up Iffland's wildcard win in Texas in 2015
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
The following year, Iffland was invited to take part in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series at Possum Kingdom Lake in Texas as a wildcard. Taking her dad’s advice to enjoy the moment, Iffland returned to the platform with a very different mindset – and a very different outcome. Not only did Iffland take a win on her debut, but the surprise victory also set her on a path that would see Iffland become the first wildcard in the history of the World Series to win the overall title.
For all the success that followed, though, one of Iffland’s standout moments came on home soil in Sydney, where she shared a world title-winning moment with her family.
"Having my nieces and nephews there, and just having them feel proud of what I was doing – and being proud of myself – is definitely one of the highlights of my career."
The home win in Sydney was a career highlight for the Australian diver
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
A decade on from that first Abu Dhabi experience, she admits that finding the motivation to keep pushing isn’t always easy.
"I would say once a year there are moments where my passion for the sport wavers," she says. "The biggest thing that draws me back is taking a step back and having a look at my world from the outside in, and reminding myself of how much I love what I do. Just giving myself a reminder of how proud I am of the life and the career that I've created for myself.
New challenges inspire the 35-year-old to keep progressing
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
"I'm not a big goal-setter – I don't like to set huge goals. I like to set small ones to reach on the way to that big goal. There can be the smallest of things, like technical things that you want to work on, or new dives, or setting new challenges. Just trying to relight the passion."
2027 and beyond – what's next for Rhiannan Iffland?
With a 10th King Kahekili trophy to collect this week, three perfect World Series seasons and five World Aquatics high diving world titles to her name, Iffland shows no signs of winding down once the Red Bull Cliff Diving season finale wraps in Italy.
“I was kind of one of the pioneers at the beginning many years ago. And I don't want to step out now – I want to be a part of where it goes next,” she states.
Success is about work and effort – as long as you can still find the joy
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
“It just brings me a real sense of pride, and the fact that I achieved something that challenged me every single day is really a special thing. I'm absolutely stoked, and I am glad that I took the opportunity 10 years ago to chase after some wild, wild dream that I had. I've exceeded my expectations, and I'm so happy and proud of myself.”
I've exceeded my expectations, and I'm so happy and proud of myself
Ten World Series titles later, Iffland has exceeded all expectations. And at 35, she’s still hungry for the win, still pushing herself and still curious to see where she can help take women’s cliff diving next.
After 10 years at the top, Rhiannan Iffland is still at the leading edge
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Content Pool
Watch Rhiannan Iffland at the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series finale in Polignano a Mare, Italy on Sunday 27 September from 1.30pm CEST/11.30am UTC on RedBull TV.
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