The heights of high diving keep growing, as evidenced by the recent launch of High Diving Australia.
A discipline of Diving Australia, High Diving Australia (HDA) is a bespoke administrative body overseeing the growth and administration of high diving in Australia, a sport that has already captivated athletes and spectators across the globe.
As the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series Final in Sydney Harbour provided a backdrop for the announcement, with the organisation is bringing a fit-for-purpose pathway for the development of athletes, coaches, and support staff in the sport of high diving. HDA will also advocate for sporting infrastructure and facilities across Australia to attract global events and international investment.
Within this mission to innovate and enhance sporting opportunities, the organisation looks to be an ally in increasing the global events that high diving is already featured at like the FINA World Championships to also include major multi-sports events like the World University Games, the Commonwealth Games, and the Olympic Games.
Australian high divers have a track record of success on the international stage headlined by Rhiannan Iffland, a two-time high diving gold medallist at the FINA World Championships and three-time FINA High Diving World Cup title winner.
Iffland has also had incredible success on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, where she secured her overall crown this past October in Sydney.
Iffland has already firmly planted the Australian flag on the high diving world stage as the winningest female high diver of all time.
With Brisbane, Australia hosting the Olympic Games in 2032, more countries and athletes competing in high diving and pushing the competitive envelope of the sport, look for an even stronger push for high diving’s inclusion.
“There are few sports in the world that can draw an in-person crowd of more than 100,000 spectators to an event, high diving is one of those,” said HDA Chairperson Maggie Roberts. “We have a unique opportunity to grow our sport in this country, and become advocates for innovation, investment, and infrastructure as we head into a golden decade for Australian sport.
“We think anything is possible.”