Hunt, Iffland dazzle from El Nido cliffs

They came, they saw, they conquered — once again.

- By JOHN BRYAN ULANDAY

EL NIDO, Palawan - They came, they saw, they conquered — once again.

On a torrid Sunday afternoon at the iconic limestone cliffs of the Big Lagoon here, Gary Hunt of France and Rhiannan Iffland of Australia saw themselves in a familiar throne as they were six years ago after topping the explosive opening leg of the 2025 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

The two winningest divers in history proved their worth to reign supreme in the first leg that featured four high-octane rounds around the famed islands of El Nido, where they were also crowned in 2019 when the gravity-defying world series made its Philippine debut.

Hunt, a wildcard this season after a short hiatus, did it via a stunning comeback in Rounds 3 and 4 to set the pace in his drive for an unprecedented 11th title overall while Iffland cruised to a runaway victory to bolster her bid for a ninth straight championship.

The 40-year-old French-British started at sixth spot in Round 1 at the Lagen Island but climbed to fourth for Round 2 at the Small Lagoon before topping the last two rounds on a combined degree of difficulty of 10.1 at the Big Lagoon in the Miniloc Islands to cap a stellar run with 422.10 points.

Runaway leader in the first two rounds, the 33-year-old Iffland finished second in Round 3 and topped the fourth round to accumulate 352.95 points behind a combined degree of difficulty of 8.1.

Aside from their whopping collection of world series mints, Hunt is also a two-time diving world champion while Iffland holds four crowns as the 24-strong world series troops to Italy, and Bosnia and Herzegovina next before the final leg in Boston.