SERPENT’S LAIR COMES ALIVE FOR THE RETURN OF THE RED BULL CLIFF DIVING WORLD SERIES TO INIS MÓR
REDBULLCLIFFDIVING.COM | JUNE 24th, INIS MÓR | WATCH THE EVENT VIDEO
Returning to Ireland for the third time (2012, 2014), the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series took to the rugged shores of Inis Mór for a dramatic competition opener. Twenty one of the world’s elite male and female divers took to the sky over the formidable Serpent’s Lair on Inis Mór for the first dive of the year.
Reigning world champions Gary Hunt and Rhiannan Iffland made the perfect start to the season with both divers coming from behind to secure a crucial victory at the demanding pool-like venue. Hunt's fellow Brit, Blake Aldridge, took second spot on the podium while America's Andy Jones finished third from the 27m platform. A premiere for the women in this location, Iffland was joined on the podium by Yana Nestsiarava of Belarus and American Ginger Huber in a tied second place in front of a sell-out crowd of 1500 spectators.
In one of the closest competitions, the 60th World Series stop was decided in favour of the 6-time champion Hunt, who celebrated his 29th victory after a rocky start and an eighth place after two rounds. The 33-year-old had the difficulty on his side and played the experience card in a competition where the wind whirled and temperatures struggled to reach 13C.
Speaking shortly after his victory, Gary Hunt states: “When you’re up there in these conditions your training kind of goes out of the window, but with years and years of experience you remember to block things out and you just think about the actions you have to go through to perform your dives and not be distracted”
In the women’s the first ever rookie champion Iffland from Australia showed no nerves to finish 50 points ahead of a joint second place for Belarusian wildcard Yana Nestsiarava and Florida-based Ginger Huber from the 21m platform. Three of the women were unable to finish the competition, with the new format of four instead of three dives per competition adding to the rough and exposed setting diving into the natural sea-pool, where the crashing ocean waves caused their target to sink and swell wildly.
From the raw Atlantic coast, the World Series travels on to the pure cliffs of the Portuguese Azores in two weeks’ time.
The sold out event was broadcast live to a global audience on Facebook and Red Bull TV.
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