DEFENDING champion Gary Hunt made the perfect start to his quest for a fifth Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series crown with victory in the season opener in Colombia.

The Southampton diver dominated the first round of the 2015 competition in the northern city of Cartagena to collect his 20th series victory in front of more than 30,000 spectators.

The 30-year-old’s haul of 526.20 points was his second-highest score to date, and just 0.20 points short of his personal best.

Hunt was delighted by his excellent start and victory over home hero Orlando Duque (477.60pts), who finished third, less than 20 points behind David Colturi from the USA (493.80pts).

“I’m ecstatic,” said Hunt. “I tried to take it dive-by-dive, but I wanted to dive last and that’s why I put my triple quad as my first optional and it was great. It was tough diving straight after Orlando! The crowd went absolutely wild for him, but that’s to be expected because he’s the hero here. It’s great for me that I managed to out-dive him.

“I’m happy that I managed to deal with the nerves and because of my training I felt strong and confident up there. I felt confident going into the final round because of my lead, but I’ve been in that position and not won, so I told myself not to relax because there was still work to do.”

Former Southampton Academy diver Blake Aldridge finished fourth.

The cliff diving elite heads to the chilly waters of La Rochelle, France, for the second stop on Sunday, May 17.