The ‘Queen of high diving’ reigns over Sydney

New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Rhiannan Iffland – hailed by her closest rival Molly Carlson of Canada as the ‘queen of high diving’ – officially celebrated her eighth consecutive King Kahekili Trophy as the world’s leading cliff diver after the Red Bull Diving Series wrapped up on Sydney Harbour.

Iffland, who worked as an acrobat and dove from great heights to entertain passengers on cruise liners in the Mediterranean and Caribbean before joining the Red Bull circuit as a wildcard in 2016, secured the world championship title on the penultimate leg of the eight-event season.

Despite having the crown in the bag – and needing to combat challenging wind gusts which forced several divers to wait for them to ease – Iffland didn’t disappoint her home crowd.

The 33-year-old won the Sydney leg of the circuit after recording 359.70 points from her four jumps, finishing ahead of Canada’s Simone Leathead (325.25) and 17-year-old Nelli Chukanivska of Ukraine (306.90).

It was Iffland’s sixth Red Bull victory of the season, and the Aussie – who also won a fourth consecutive high diving gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha earlier this year – said she enjoyed a memorable view of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge from the 21-metre high diving platform.

“That was a magical moment here, standing up there and getting the crowd going and just enjoying the moment,” said Iffland, who hit the water between 65-70 km/h.

“I was super nervous but as soon as I saw the crowd I was just full of energy, so it was very, very special.”

Britain’s Aidan Heslop finished the men’s season standings in top spot after coming fifth in Sydney. Ukraine’s Oleksiy Prygorov won the Sydney event.

Fellow Aussies Xantheia Pennisi finished the women’s even in fourth place, while Stella Forsyth came eighth out of 12.

NSWIS