The 2018 Red Bull Cliff Diving series will have its women’s and men’s titles coming down to just 20 points each entering tomorrow’s final stop in Italy.
For the men, Great Britain’s Gary Hunt has won five straight events to pass up American Steven LoBue by just 30. LoBue went on a tear early, sweeping the Spain and Portugal stops. But since then, Hunt took Switzerland, Denmark and Bosnia and Herzegovina to build a 30-point lead. The winner in Italy will earn 200, while second will take 160 and third 130. That means the showdown at the top should decide this year’s series champ.
SwimSwam caught up LoBue the day before the series finale in Italy. The American diver was complimentary of the run Hunt has been on, while hoping to end the year with a standout performance of his own.
“Gary is amazing – the comeback he’s had this year is an amazing story,” LoBuesaid of Hunt’s three-event run.
“The great thing about diving is that it can be anyone’s day,” LoBue said. He pointed to the Switzerland stop as a rough outing for himself – that was the event that started Hunt’s run – but said he felt good heading into the all-important series finale in Italy.
“I’m excited for a good day of competition.”
On the women’s side, Adriana Jimenez of Mexico has built up a 20-point lead over Australia’s Rhiannan Iffland with one stop to go. The two have swept three of the four stops so far: Jimenez took the first (USA) and fourth (Bosnia and Herzegovina) stops, beating Iffland by about 9 points in the latter. Meanwhile Iffland beat Jimenez by 30 to win the Portugal stop and was second to Canada’s Lysanne Richard in Switzerland.
The Red Bull Cliff Diving series typically streams the final round of each event live – you can check it out below. The Italy event begins at 1:10 PM on Sunday, September 23, which is roughly 7:10 AM U.S. Eastern Time on Sunday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCzEXQv_s0I
Current Point Standings
Men:
- Gary Hunt, GBR – 810
- Steven LoBue, USA – 790
- Jonathan Paredes, MEX – 660
- Michal Navratil, CZE – 570
- Andy Jones, USA – 500
Women:
- Adriana Jimenez, MEX – 650
- Rhiannan Iffland, AUS – 630
- Lysanne Richard, CAN – 530
- Jessica Macaulay, GBR – 510
- Yana Nestsiarava, BLR – 380