Rhiannan Iffland became the first person in history to dive from a moving hot-air balloon in the waterways of the Lockstock Dam in New South Wales in her native Australian.

Cliff diving’s most decorated female athlete pulled it off as a precursor to the start of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

The project took a year in planning to find the right spot, which proved on her doorstep in the Hunter Region.

The balloon took off early in the morning with Iffland harnessed to a platform outside the basket. It sank down from its soaring altitude of 40 metres to the planned 18m dive height, giving her a narrow window in which to take flight. Iffland said afterwards: “It feels so surreal. I’ve been dreaming about attempting world-first challenges ever since I started diving 20 years ago. I’ve been training for this moment for the last few months and I’m so proud to be the first person to achieve the feat.”

Jumping from a moving platform, though, understandably threw up some issues. She said: “When I dive, every metre above 16m counts, as I can feel the difference in height and entry to the water, meaning I need to tweak my dive accordingly. So, to be doing a world-first dive at 18m high, from a constantly moving target that only seconds before diving was up to 40m in the air, I was feeling both exhilarated and nervous."

As for the choice of location for her hot-air balloon dive, she added: “I chose Lostock Dam because it’s one of my favourite areas and I wanted to visit a location that had been impacted by the bushfires. It was such a poignant moment, seeing the region from a new point of view high up in the sky. The Hunter Region is so beautiful and was the first place I thought of to achieve this dream dive.”

Reflecting on the past year, Iffland said: “Similar to many other people, I thought I knew what 2020 was going to look like for me. I had the World Series calendar set-out, I had my training schedule in place, and I knew what my personal and career goals were. This all changed and suddenly I needed to set new goals. So, I wanted to push my limits and leap out of a hot air balloon. With only a few dives at competition height under my belt this past year, this was exactly the challenge I needed in the lead up to the resumption of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.”

Iffland’s record-breaking feat comes just as the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series announces its return in 2021. 24 of the world’s best cliff divers, including reigning champions Iffland and Gary Hunt from France, will once again leap, twist and somersault from breathtaking heights of up to 27 metres and up 85km/h fast. The 2021 calendar will feature six stops from June to October, kicking off in France.

Source: Red Bull news