Constantin Popovici of Romania. Red Bull Content Pool / Romina Amato/INPHO Red Bull Content Pool / Romina Amato/INPHO / Romina Amato/INPHO

HUGE CROWDS TURNED out to Dun Laoghaire harbour over the weekend to catch a glimpse of some world-class diving. 

The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series returned to Ireland over the weekend — having previously taken place in Inis Mór — and the good weather saw 145,000 people flock to the event across the two days. 

Grand Canal Dock had originally been due to host the spectacle, but organisers opted to switch it to Dun Laoghaire’s East Pier. 

Iris Schmidbauer of Germany dives from the 21m platform. Red Bull Content Pool / Sebastian Marko/INPHO Red Bull Content Pool / Sebastian Marko/INPHO / Sebastian Marko/INPHO

Romania’s Olympic diver Constantin Popovici claimed first place in the men’s event, ahead of Gary Hunt of Great Britain and US athlete David Colturi. 

In the women’s category, Rhiannan Iffland of Australia recorded an impressive 30-point victory ahead of runner-up, Canada’s Lysanne Richard, with Adriana Jimenez of Mexico third. 

Due to the cold water conditions, however, the results won’t be counted towards the overall World Series standings. 

“As the water temperature at the competition site at Dún Laoghaire Harbour is below 12 degrees — the minimum temperature according to the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series rulebook – all optional/hard dives cannot be performed by the divers due to an increased risk of injury,” a statement from Red Bull reads. 

Despite this, the athletes of the World Series still want to display their skills and crown the winners of the Irish Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series stop for the fans and spectators.

“The divers are free to choose the difficulty of the dives they are comfortable to perform in these conditions. Because of this necessary format change the results of this competition will not count towards the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series overall standings.”

The next stop for the World Series is Polignano a Mare, Italy, on 2 June. 

Rhiannan Iffland of Australia takes flight. Red Bull Content Pool / Sebastian Marko/INPHO Red Bull Content Pool / Sebastian Marko/INPHO / Sebastian Marko/INPHO

Results:

Men

1. Constantin Popovici (ROU) – 454.95 pts
2. Gary Hunt (GBR) – 453.10
3. David Colturi (USA) – 374.50
4. Alessandro De Rose (ITA) – 373.00
5. Blake Aldridge (GBR) – 365.10

Women

1. Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) – 341.50 pts
2. Lysanne Richard (CAN) – 310.60
3. Adriana Jimenez (MEX) – 280.60
4. Iris Schmidbauer (GER) – 275.60
5. Yana Nestsiarava (BLR) – 262.90

Constantin Popovici and Rhiannan Iffland, who both finished first place. Red Bull Content Pool / Romina Amato/INPHO Red Bull Content Pool / Romina Amato/INPHO / Romina Amato/INPHO

You can watch the winners in action below: 

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