GREAT Britain’s Aidan Heslop and Rhiannan Iffland of Australia overpowered their rivals in stunning fashion at the fourth stop of the 2024 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, both scoring victory by a huge 46-point margin at the Causeway Coast location.
With two rounds directly off the rugged cliffs and two off the platforms across three days of competition, it was Heslop who excelled in the cold, wet and windy conditions, and victory never looked in doubt following his thunderous third round performance.
An equally impressive effort in the final round secured a commanding victory for the Plymouth diver, with Romania’s Constantin Popovici 46.10 points behind in second place.
“I’m so happy. I have a few wins under my belt, but this is my first home win and hopefully I can bag a few more,” said 22-year-old Heslop.
“It hasn’t been the best weather over the past few days, so I think I had a little bit of an advantage there. I was in a good headspace all day and I’m just excited that I managed to get it done.”
For Iffland, the dominant force in the women’s competition over the last eight years, it was another display of total control from start to finish.
The 32-year-old picked up 9.0s from the judges in each of the first three rounds, before a huge Back 3 Somersaults 2 Twists Pike in the final round sealed a comprehensive victory over Ginni van Katwijk of the Netherlands, who herself claimed a career-best second place and her first ever podium.
Canada’s Molly Carlson completed the women’s top three at this first ever stop in Northern Ireland.
“I’m just getting onto a roll in competitions now and really tapping into that good place when I’m standing up there before the dives.” said Iffland, who finished with a season-best total score of 371.90 points.
“I’m not going to slow down between now and the next stop and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Despite the notoriously difficult conditions that accompany a cliff diving competition in this part of the world, three fresh new faces were brave enough to make their World Series debut this weekend.
Spain’s Paula Gilabert, Pierrick Schafer of Switzerland and Great Britain’s Archie Biggin all took their first leaps on the stunning Causeway Coast, with 16-year-old Biggin becoming the youngest diver ever to compete in the sport.
The world’s best cliff divers can now enjoy a three-week break before they head to Oslo, Norway on August 8-10, where the second half of the season will get underway from the longest platform in World Series history.
Results Red Bull Cliff Diving at the Causeway Coast // Round #4 Jim
WOMEN 1- Rhiannan Iffland AUS – 371.90pts.2- Ginni Van Katwijk (W) NED – 325.303- Molly Carlson CAN – 322.304- Maria Paula Quintero COL – 318.655- Eleanor Smart USA – 301.206- Meili Carpenter USA – 300.707- Morgane Herculano (W) SUI – 298.058- Xantheia Pennisi AUS – 292.859- Paty Valente (W) BRA – 253.1510- Madeleine Bayon (W) FRA – 247.5011- Simone Leathead CAN – 234.6012- Paula Gilabert (W) ESP – 187.20
MEN 1- Aidan Heslop GBR – 441.65pts.2- Constantin Popovici ROU – 395.553- James Lichtenstein USA – 281.354- Carlos Gimeno ESP – 352.555- Sergio Guzman (W) MEX – 334.156- Yolotl Marinez (W) MEX – 309.607- Miguel Garcia (W) COL – 304.058- Oleksiy Prygorov UKR – 293.559- Nikita Fedotov IAT – 291.8010- Jonathan Paredes MEX – 288.4511- Pierrick Schafer (W) SUI – 257.3512- Archie Biggin (W) GBR – 241.05
Standings (after 4 of 8 stops)
Women – Rhiannan Iffland AUS – 78pts.2- Molly Carlson CAN – 593- Kaylea Arnett (W) USA – 334- Simone Leathead CAN – 314- Ginni Van Katwijk (W) NED – 31
MEN 1- James Lichtenstein USA – 59pts.2- Constantin Popovici ROU – 583- Aidan Heslop GBR – 574- Carlos Gimeno ESP – 385- Jonathan Paredes MEX – 26
