The Institute of Contemporary Art hangs over the water in a way that invites comparison to a diving board. This weekend, the 16th annual Red Bull Cliff Diving Championship made good on the building’s peculiar shape with athletes coming from around the world to make like tea and throw themselves into Boston Harbor.

Boston was the final city on this year’s tour and the only stop in the United States. The event marked the first time the coveted King Kahekili Trophy had returned to the United States in over a decade, following the 2010 event in Hawaii, the birthplace of cliff diving.

In the women’s division, Australian Rhiannan Iffland took home her ninth championship and closed out the season with four out of four wins. “I always love to compete with a bit of pressure, and I did in Boston – I had my eye on that perfect season,” she said.

Iffland faced fierce competition from runner-up Canadian Molly Carlson, who placed second for the fourth year in a row. Carlson proved to be the fan favorite and is the definitive ‘it-girl’ of the diving world with a TikTok following of over 3 million. 

“It’s just fun, you know? I feel like I want to make diving relatable,” she said. “It seems really scary and insane, but at the end of the day, we’re all human, and I just want to make that connection to everyone else.”

Carlson said an addiction to her phone is what made her social media’s favorite diver. The interest and positive response to her dives have brought interest to the sport in recent years and helped spawn Carlson’s very own brand, Brave Gang – a community of “people accomplishing the things that scare us the most,” where she shares her own mental health journey and provides a safe space for others to do the same.

“You start realizing you’re making a difference, and people are getting to know you, and people are getting to know the sport, and you’re like, all I want to do is keep showing this and, like, have this world come together.”  

After diving, Carlson spent the weekend greeting and posing for selfies with her local Bravies and praised Boston as her favorite city on the tour.

“I actually love Boston so much because I’ve always dove good here and it’s in front of a home crowd,” Carlson said. “I think it’s so nice to come out to an event and see so many people come out and say that they came from my videos and then learned about a whole sport. The more we can get high diving known, the better.”

Carlson and her fellow divers trained Monday through Friday, both in the gym and in the water, to prepare for the World Series. “A lot of people think we’re always up [on the high dive], but it’s too much on the body. So you typically do two reps a week up top, and the rest is 10 meters and under,” she said.

Carlson shared she was hoping to catch a Red Sox game while in town. “The hot dog was, like, the best meal I’ve ever had in my life. I’m probably going to have 16 hot dogs and then watch the game.”

In the men’s division, American James Lichtenstein made history as the first male US diver to win a World Series stateside. Romanian diver Catalin Preda placed second, with another American, David Colturi, coming in third.

“To win in front of a home crowd, and in front of home fans and my friends and family, is a really incredible feeling,” Lichtenstein said.

Carlson, Iffland, Lichtenstein, Colturi and Preda will all remain for the 2026 World Series. They will be joined by Simone Leathead (CAN), Kaylea Arnett (USA), Lisa Faulkner (USA), Nelli Chukanivska (UKR), Xantheia Pennisi (AUS), and Ginni van Katwijk (NED)  in the women’s division, and Constantin Popovici (ROU), Carlos Gimeno (ESP), Gary Hunt (FRA), Jonathan Paredes (MEX), Catalin Preda (ROU), and Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR) in the men’s. Four additional spots for both divisions will be allocated based on world ranking.

Images via Dean Temi