Cliff Diving
To honour the seventh stop on the 2024 calendar, dive in to find out more about seven record-breaking feats achieved by the divers in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.
In a sport that showcases extreme courage and gravity-defying precision from up to 27m at speeds of up to 85kph, you’d think that the world-class athletes were already testing their absolute sporting limits by simply competing. But since its first event in 2009, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series has been breaking boundaries and creating ‘firsts’ in stunning natural and urban locations around the globe.
Here are seven incredible records set during the history of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series so far…
01
Most World Series champion titles
In a fitting first entry, the undisputed GOAT of men’s cliff diving, Gary Hunt, holds the award for most World Series titles. Since 2009, in 14 seasons, 40-year-old Hunt has amassed an almost unbeatable 10 World Series championship wins, also coming in a close second on three other occasions. Hunt took a long hiatus from the sport to pursue an Olympic diving dream but made his long-awaited return in Montreal in August 2024. Now, with his head firmly back on the 27m platform, the question remains - can he take on the new guard and return to his championship-winning form?
02
Longest winning streak
Seven-time World Series champion Rhiannan Iffland is THE dominant figure in the women’s cliff diving event. The 33-year-old force of nature has a jaw-dropping cliff diving record and, in 49 starts, has only been absent from the podium twice.
One of Ithe Australian's greatest achievements, along with her seven world champion King Kahekili trophies, is her longest winning streak - 13 consecutive wins between 2018-2021, including two full seasons undefeated. With the 2024 season coming to a close, Iffland has faced stiff competition from Molly Carlson of Canada, who has bookended Iffland’s season so far with two wins of her own and has a track record for breaking her title rival’s winning streaks. But with four wins out of six so far, the Australian retains her lead in the World Series standings and is on track to take a record eighth title.
03
Most World Series appearances
It’s no surprise to learn that Gary Hunt is the diver with the most World Series appearances under his belt. Since his first steps out on the platform at 25 years old, the Frenchman has checked off 99 starts in total over 14 seasons, with 98 of those as consecutive appearances. Whilst his milestone 100th start is yet to be confirmed, Hunt hopes to return to the World Series line-up in 2025 to mark a new chapter in his cliff diving career.
04
Highest degree of difficulty
Aidan Heslop burst onto the World Series scene in 2022, winning his inaugural event as a permanent diver in Boston, USA. The British diver had made a handful of appearances as a wildcard between 2018 and 2021 - first as the youngest-ever diver in the sport at the time at 16 years old, and even making a podium finish in 2019 - but really made his mark as part of the new generation of divers at the USA stop when he was 20.
Now pursuing his first-ever King Kahekili world champion trophy, Heslop has become known for his incredibly complex dives. The 22-year-old has also become a trailblazer of the sport, pushing the boundaries of cliff diving further with each season that passes, setting new benchmarks for the sport.
Heslop was the first diver to set the highest Degree of Difficulty (DD) executed in competition at 6.2 (now recalibrated to 5.9 in 2024 following the introduction of a new DD table) in 2022 with four forward somersaults and three-and-a-half twists pike. The Brit is still scoring consistently with his epic dive, and continues to push the technical limits of what is humanly possible with just three seconds of air time. Heslop is also one of the divers responsible for a recalibration of the DD to accommodate the new wave of supercharged, adrenaline-fuelled technical dives.
05
Best wildcard results
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series made its debut in 2009, with a line-up consisting of eight of the world’s most elite divers in the permanent roster, plus wildcards to add some spice to each event stop. These days, 12 men and 12 women make up the line-up at each stop, with an average of four wildcards in each category at each stop.
Each wildcard competes not only for the experience of diving alongside the world’s best, but also in the hope that they can make a splash on the World Series diving scene.
In the women’s category, Rhiannan Iffland exploded into the World Series in Texas, USA in her rookie year. As wildcard in 2016, the Aussie went on to take the title that very same season, starting an unbeatable run.
And in the men’s competition, both Cătălin Preda and Carlos Gimeno have earned third-place finishes in the World Series standings as wildcards - Preda in 2021, and Gimeno more recently in 2023.
Meanwhile, in 2024 wildcards Kaylea Arnett - currently in her rookie season - and Ginni van Katwijk are still battling it out for third place in the women’s World Series standings, keeping the permanent divers firmly on their toes with two stops remaining.
06
First perfect 10
The GOAT of cliff diving makes yet another appearance on the list, with Gary Hunt officially the first diver in World Series history to throw down a ‘perfect dive’. Hunt scored 10s from all judges during the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in 2020 at the event in Beirut, Lebanon.
This rare achievement highlighted his exceptional skill and precision, and became a defining moment in his career and solidified his reputation as one of the greatest cliff divers in the history of the sport.
Likewise, Rhiannan Iffland became the first diver in the women’s category to achieve a perfect dive when she picked up all 10s from the judges in Downpatrick Head, Ireland in 2021. Mind-blowingly, the feat was achieved in super challenging conditions at the rugged coastal location, showcasing the Australian’s extra surfing skills in reading waves, currents and choppy waters.
07
Highest-ever score
The defending World Series champion Constantin Popovici is known for his fierce competitive nature and intensely dynamic dives, two characteristics that earned the Romanian his first-ever King Kahekili trophy in 2023. He had set the tone to a winning season by earning a record-breaking accolade, when he picked up the highest-ever score in a single event in Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series history.
The Romanian shark scored a whopping 492.20 points at the 2023 season opener in Boston, earning all 10s from the judges and surpassing his previous highest score of 481.50 from the previous season at the Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina stop.
This season, Popovici remains in contention for another Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series win, engaged in a close battle in the top three with current leader Aidan Heslop and James Lichtenstein.
With two stops remaining on the 2024 calendar, it’s all to play for. Don’t miss a moment of the breathtaking aerial action when the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series touches down in Antayla, Türkiye from September 27-29.
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