PLYMOUTH’S Aidan Heslop got his 2023 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series underway with a podium finish in Boston, USA.

Last year’s series runner-up had picked up a slight groin injury the week before at the World Cup, but he showed his fitness by finishing third in challenging weather conditions in America.

He was only beaten by 34-year-old Romanian World Cup winner Constantin Popovici, who secured a record points score of 492.90 points, and Spain’s Carlos Gimeno.

Heslop did hold off the challenge of 10-times champion Gary Hunt, who had to settle for fourth spot.

This season the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series have introduced some news rules. Now athletes are required to execute their dives using four of the five take-off directions – forward, back, reverse, inward and arm-stand – a rule designed to test their versatility – and the highest scoring dive at each event will each receive an additional 10 ranking points on top of their event.

The second leg of the series will take place in Paris on June 18.