It won’t get any more pure – cliff diving directly off the cliff face is the motto in Portugal. São Miguel is the third of nine stops for the men in 2016, the second for the women. The cliff diving elite returned to this phenomenal volcanic archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to celebrate the World Series’ most pure venue. The crater walls of an almost perfectly round islet in the Azores archipelago some 1,400km west of the Portuguese mainland were the natural playground for the cliff diving elite during the season’s third stop. From spots called ‘snakehead’ and ‘kitchen’ the brave athletes dived directly off the cliff to hit the water at speeds of more than 85km/h only three seconds later. Only the more difficult dives of round 3 and 4 were executed on the platform due to the high degree of difficulty. An integral part of this prestigious series of competitions, the islet offshore from São Miguel hosted the 14 male and 9 female athletes for the fifth consecutive time this weekend.
It was Gary Hunt (GBR) who could defend his last year’s victory at the Azores. Andy Jones (USA) claimed the second place and Jonathan Paredes (MEX) completed the podium. In the women’s competition it was once again Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) who took first place in front of Lysanne Richard (CAN) in second and Ginger Huber (USA) in third.