Iffland Snares Silver in High Diving’s World Cup

New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Rhiannan Iffland finished High Diving’s World Cup titles in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a silver medal – and a World Aquatics Championships berth.

Iffland, a two-time world champion, finished behind Molly Carlson after the Canadian nailed her fourth dive – a half-twisting forward quad (with a 4.4 Degree of Difficulty) to earn 121.00 points for a total of 374.00 points for the two-day contest.

When Iffland entered her final attempt, she was only 3.10 points behind Carlson, but her dive – a back doble-twisting triple – ‘only’ carried a 4.3 degree of difficulty. While her execution earned Iffland 113.95 points it wasn’t enough to leapfrog the Canadian.

The 31-year-old, a six-time consecutive Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series champion, and who trained with Melisaa Wu and Matthew Mitcham in NSWIS’s Diving squad, finished second by 10.15 points.

“The last dive is my bread and butter,” said Iffland. “I was excited to see where it was at the start of the season. Now I know what I need to do. I need a stronger take-off and I could have stood up a little more at the end.

“In Fukuoka, I’ll be working to chase my two gold medals from 2017 and 2019. I’m not ready to give up the top spot just yet.”

The podium finish allowed Iffland to automatically qualify for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan later this year.

Third place went to Carlson’s training mate Jessica McCauley, who was in a fourth-place tie after the first day of competition.