The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, established in 2009 by Red Bull, is an annual international circuit of high diving competitions. Widely regarded as the premier global championship in cliff and high diving, the series features elite athletes performing complex acrobatic maneuvers from extreme heights into open water bodies across natural and urban settings worldwide.
Competitors dive from specially constructed platforms mounted on coastal cliffs, historic bridges, and architectural landmarks. Male divers launch from a platform height of 27 metres (89 ft), while female divers compete from 21 metres (69 ft). Athletes reach speeds of approximately 85 km/h (53 mph) in under three seconds before entering the water feet-first, decelerating to a complete stop within four metres and enduring impact forces up to nine times the force of gravity.
At each tour stop, a fixed roster of permanent athletes is joined by wildcard entrants. Individual competition results contribute to the cumulative season standings. At the conclusion of the season, the top-ranked male and female divers are awarded the King Kahekili Trophy, named in honour of 18th-century Hawaiian king Kahekili II, widely regarded as the historical pioneer of the ancient cliff-diving discipline known as lele kawa.
The series has played a fundamental role in standardizing and popularizing high diving as an internationally recognized aquatic discipline, leading to its formal inclusion in the World Aquatics Championships by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) in 2013. The most successful athletes in series history are eleven-time men's champion Gary Hunt and ten-time women's champion Rhiannan Iffland.
History Origins and early seasons (2008–2013) High diving traces its historical roots to the Hawaiian island of Lanai, where 18th-century chieftain Kahekili II required his warriors to leap from towering ocean cliffs to demonstrate courage and military prowess in an ancient tradition called lele kawa (diving feet-first into water without making a splash). In July 2008, Red Bull staged a precursor international cliff diving invitational at Polignano a Mare, Italy, which laid the operational groundwork for a structured global tour.
The inaugural Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series officially launched in 2009 as an eight-event men's championship, beginning on 8 May at La Rochelle, France, before 40,000 spectators. Veteran Colombian cliff diver Orlando Duque captured the inaugural men's title after an intense season-long duel with British diver Gary Hunt. Hunt secured his first championship the following year in 2010, inaugurating an era of tour dominance driven by unprecedented degrees of difficulty—including the front 4½ somersaults and triple-quad twisting combinations. Hunt retained the title in 2011 and 2012, before Russian diver Artem Silchenko clinched the 2013 crown at the season finale in the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand.
The competitive credibility and strict safety protocols developed by the World Series contributed directly to World Aquatics (then FINA) officially recognizing high diving as a medal sport at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, where Duque won the inaugural world title and Hunt earned silver.
Introduction of Women's Series and tour expansion (2014–2019) In 2014, the tour officially inaugurated the Women's World Series, competing from 20-metre (66 ft) platforms alongside the men's tour. American diver Rachelle Simpson won the maiden women's title in 2014 and defended it in 2015, while Hunt claimed his fourth and fifth men's trophies in dominant fashion.
The 2016 season marked a turning point with the emergence of Australian Rhiannan Iffland, who entered the tour opener at Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, as an unheralded wildcard and won in her debut appearance. Iffland claimed the 2016 championship and launched the most dominant individual streak in the sport's history, winning seven consecutive World Series titles (2016–2023) and completing undefeated seasons in both 2019 and 2021.
The men's competition saw fierce battles throughout the late 2010s: Mexico's Jonathan Paredes edged Hunt for the 2017 title with consistent execution, while American Steven LoBue pushed Hunt to the final dive in 2018 before Hunt captured his sixth and seventh championships in 2018 and 2019.
Gender equality, post-pandemic restart, and new generation (2020–present) The 2020 World Series was entirely cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the circuit resumed in 2021, Red Bull enacted structural reforms guaranteeing complete gender equality across all aspects of the tour: both divisions adopted identical 12-diver rosters (eight permanent divers and four wildcards per stop), equal platform requirements (with women's height formalized at 21 metres), identical championship scoring scales, and equal prize money.
The post-pandemic era saw the rise of a new generation challenging the sport's established legends. In the men's division, Romanian Olympians Constantin Popovici and Cătălin Preda, alongside British prodigy Aidan Heslop, challenged Gary Hunt (who began representing France in 2021). Hunt secured consecutive titles in 2021 and 2022, before Popovici clinched his maiden world championship in 2023. Heslop became the youngest men's champion in history by winning the 2024 title at age 22. In 2025, Hunt reclaimed the throne to capture his record eleventh world championship, before Heslop secured his second world title in 2026. In the women's series, Canadian Molly Carlson and wildcard Kaylea Arnett emerged as prominent contenders, but Iffland maintained her supremacy, extending her record total to ten world championships through 2026.
Points systems Every athlete scores championship points at each event based on their final ranking. The overall Cliff Diving World Series champion is the diver who accumulates the highest total number of points across all competitions during the season.
The championship scoring system has evolved over four main eras:
Period 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th Best Dive Bonus 2009–2011 20 16 13 11 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 — — — 2012–2019 200 160 130 110 90 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 9 8 — 2021–2022 200 160 130 110 92 76 62 50 39 29 20 12 — — — 2023 +10 2024–present 20 16 13 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 — — +1
The top divers in the overall standings at the end of the season pre-qualify automatically as permanent divers for the following season.
Results by year
Men SeasonChampionSecondThird2026 Aidan Heslop - 78 pts James Lichtenstein - 73 pts Constantin Popovici - 68 pts2025 Gary Hunt - 54 pts Constantin Popovici - 48 pts Carlos Gimeno - 46 pts 2024 Aidan Heslop - 121 pts Constantin Popovici - 107 pts James Lichtenstein - 101 pts 2023 Constantin Popovici - 1032 pts Aidan Heslop - 809 pts Carlos Gimeno - 703 pts2022 Gary Hunt - 1240 pts Aidan Heslop - 1166 pts Cătălin Preda - 1130 pts2021 Gary Hunt – 800 pts Constantin Popovici – 640 pts Cătălin Preda – 550 pts 2020 Series cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2019 Gary Hunt – 1160 pts Jonathan Paredes – 750 pts Andy Jones – 500 pts 2018 Gary Hunt – 1010 pts Steven LoBue – 950 pts Jonathan Paredes – 790 pts 2017 Jonathan Paredes – 720 pts Gary Hunt – 710 pts Blake Aldridge – 580 pts 2016 Gary Hunt – 1350 pts Jonathan Paredes – 1030 pts Andy Jones – 910 pts 2015 Gary Hunt – 1320 pts Orlando Duque – 970 pts Jonathan Paredes – 849 pts 2014 Gary Hunt – 1110 pts Artem Silchenko – 840 pts Steven LoBue – 680 pts 2013 Artem Silchenko – 1030 pts Gary Hunt – 980 pts Orlando Duque – 860 pts 2012 Gary Hunt – 860 pts Orlando Duque – 840 pts Steven LoBue – 740 pts 2011 Gary Hunt – 125 pts Artem Silchenko – 90 pts Michal Navrátil – 74 pts 2010 Gary Hunt – 109 pts Orlando Duque – 94 pts Artem Silchenko – 80 pts 2009 Orlando Duque – 127 pts Gary Hunt – 127 pts Artem Silchenko – 111 pts
Women
SeasonChampionSecondThird2026 Rhiannan Iffland – 78 pts Molly Carlson – 71 pts Simone Leathead – 52 pts2025 Rhiannan Iffland – 83 pts Simone Leathead – 42 pts Kaylea Arnett – 38 pts 2024 Rhiannan Iffland – 157 pts Molly Carlson – 112 pts Simone Leathead – 68 pts 2023 Rhiannan Iffland – 1200 pts Molly Carlson – 970 pts Xantheia Pennisi – 600 pts2022 Rhiannan Iffland – 1560 pts Molly Carlson – 1270 pts Eleanor Smart – 820 pts2021 Rhiannan Iffland – 800 pts Jessica Macaulay – 580 pts Molly Carlson – 560 pts 2020 Series cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2019 Rhiannan Iffland – 1200 pts Jessica Macaulay – 670 pts Lysanne Richard – 660 pts 2018 Rhiannan Iffland – 830 pts Adriana Jiménez – 760 pts Lysanne Richard – 690 pts 2017 Rhiannan Iffland – 890 pts Helena Merten – 740 pts Adriana Jiménez – 690 pts 2016 Rhiannan Iffland – 1290 pts Lysanne Richard – 1030 pts Cesilie Carlton – 780 pts 2015 Rachelle Simpson – 490 pts Ginger Huber – 420 pts Cesilie Carlton – 400 pts 2014 Rachelle Simpson – 600 pts Anna Bader – 390 pts Adriana Jiménez – 360 pts
Tour events
Year Stop 1 Stop 2 Stop 3 Stop 4 Stop 5 Stop 6 Stop 7 Stop 8 Stop 9 2009 FRALa Rochelle NEDRotterdam CRODubrovnik ITAPolignano a Mare TURAntalya GERHamburg SUISisikon GREAthens — 2010 FRALa Rochelle MEXIk Kil NORKragerø ITAPolignano a Mare SUISisikon USAHilo — — — 2011 CHIRapa Nui MEXIk Kil GREAthens FRALa Rochelle ITAMalcesine USABoston UKRYalta — — 2012 FRABonifacio NORGrimstad PORAzores IRLInis Mór USABoston GBRAbereiddy OMAWadi Shab — — 2013 FRALa Rochelle DENCopenhagen PORAzores ITAMalcesine USABoston GBRPembrokeshire BRANiterói THAKrabi — 2014 CUBHavana USAPossum Kingdom Lake IRLInis Mór NORKragerø PORAzores ESPBilbao MEXIk Kil — — 2015 COLCartagena FRALa Rochelle USAPossum Kingdom Lake DENCopenhagen PORAzores BIHMostar ITAPolignano a Mare ESPBilbao — 2016 USAPossum Kingdom Lake DENCopenhagen PORAzores FRALa Rochelle ITAPolignano a Mare GBRPembrokeshire BIHMostar JPNShirahama UAEDubai 2017 IRLInis Mór PORAzores ITAPolignano a Mare USAPossum Kingdom Lake BIHMostar CHILago Ranco — — — 2018 USAPossum Kingdom Lake ESPBilbao PORAzores SUISisikon DENCopenhagen BIHMostar ITAPolignano a Mare — — 2019 PHIEl Nido IRLDublin ITAPolignano a Mare PORAzores LBNBeirut BIHMostar ESPBilbao — — 2020 Series cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 FRASaint-Raphaël NOROslo BIHMostar IRLDownpatrick Head ITAApulia ITAPolignano a Mare — — — 2022 USABoston FRAParis DENCopenhagen NOROslo BIHMostar SUISisikon ITAPolignano a Mare AUSSydney — 2023 USABoston FRAParis ITAPolignano a Mare JPNTakachiho BIHMostar NZLAuckland — — — 2024 GREAthens USABoston ITAPolignano a Mare GBRCauseway Coast NOROslo CANMontreal TURAntalya AUSSydney — 2025 PHIEl Nido ITAPolignano a Mare BIHMostar USABoston — — — — — 2026 INABali USASt. Petersburg DENCopenhagen BIHMostar ITAPolignano a Mare — — — —
Most frequent host locations
Location Country Events Years hosted Polignano a Mare 14 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 (×2), 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 Mostar 10 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026 Azores 8 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Boston 7 2011, 2012, 2013, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Copenhagen 6 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2026 La Rochelle 6 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 Possum Kingdom Lake 5 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Bilbao 4 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 Sisikon 4 2009, 2010, 2018, 2022 Athens 3 2009, 2011, 2024 Ik Kil 3 2010, 2011, 2014 Inis Mór 3 2012, 2014, 2017 Oslo 3 2021, 2022, 2024 Antalya 2 2009, 2024 Malcesine 2 2011, 2013 El Nido 2 2019, 2025 Kragerø 2 2010, 2014 Paris 2 2022, 2023 Pembrokeshire 2 2013, 2016 Sydney 2 2022, 2024
Competition rules Men perform 4 dives from a height ranging from 85–92 ft (26–28m). There are a total of nine groups (front, back, reverse, inward, front twists, back twists, reverse twists, inward twists and all armstand dives).