The 2025 season showed just how competitive men’s high diving in Europe has become. Across the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, the World Aquatics High Diving World Cup in Porto Flavia, and the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, European athletes were consistently in the mix as they continued to show that the continent led the way as the driving force of the sport.
At the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore back in July and August, the men’s event produced one of the most dramatic finishes of the year. Spain’s Carlos Gimeno led the field at several points and delivered a series of high-quality, high-difficulty dives to secure a brilliant silver medal. Close behind him, Romania’s ever-reliable Constantin Popovici claimed bronze after another composed and technically sharp performance that saw him come off the better of a three-way battle for the bronze medal. The title ultimately went to James Lichtenstein of the USA, but European athletes shaped the narrative from start to finish.
Just a few weeks later, Porto Flavia’s sole stop of the World Aquatics High Diving World Cup once again provided one of the most spectacular backdrops in the sport. Lichtenstein won the World Cup stop, but Popovici, Gimeno and the legendary Gary Hunt all pushed him throughout the rounds. The inclusion of the competition was welcomed by the athletes, and contributed to one of the busiest years of high diving in recent memory.
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series returned for 2025, and asked athletes to adapt to a range of conditions – from the calm waters of European coastal venues to the dramatic stages in Mostar and the season finale in Boston. Romania’s Catalin Preda put in a couple of impressive performances, but it was France’s Hunt who took the overall top spot thanks to a series of podium finishes over the four rounds. Gimeno added more podium finishes to an already impressive year as he finished in third place in the overall standings, while Ukraine’s Oleksiy Prygorov and others showed flashes of form that underline just how much depth Europe now has. The Boston finale was tightly contested, with Popovici coming in for overall second place.
Looking ahead, the European Aquatics Championships 2026 in Paris will continue to give the elite divers their biennial chance to stake their claim as the continent’s best. Taken together, 2025 showed that European high diving is no longer carried by one or two standout names. A handful of genuine world-class athletes have continued to take the world by storm, and they will almost certainly continue their dominance in the years to come.
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
