As the European Aquatics Junior Diving Championships Athens 2025 reached its fifth day, the action in the diving pool at the Athens Olympic Aquatics Centre brought magic from the springboards. 

Following two packed preliminary rounds that saw over two dozen athletes taking part in both events, Germany’s Emily Deml came off the better in a tense clash with Viktoriia Kazantseva, as the latter athlete pushed Deml all the way and just lost out by what was a handful of points.  

Despite qualifying second out of the preliminary rounds, the German’s required dives carried over to see her as the net leader with four dives of the final to go. When the evening came around, Deml’s consistency proved decisive as she managed to hold onto that slender lead and secure the gold.  

Her final dive, a Reverse 1 ½ Somersaults 1 ½ Twists Free (5333D) was the pick of the lot – scoring her 54.60 points and being enough to take the victory on a final tally of 400.35. 

Kazantseva produced two dives in the final that exceeded that mark – most notably a 57.60 for her Inward 1 ½ Somersaults Pike (403B) in the opening round to keep the pressure on. It wasn’t enough though, as the athlete had to settle for her second silver of the competition. 

In third place was Ukraine’s Diana Karnafel, who benefitted from her compatriot Kseniia Bochek’s penalty for a repeat dive and took her spot on the podium with an evening-best dive worth 54.00 points for good measure. Her Inward 1 ½ Somersaults Pike (403B) helped her to a final total of 384.75. 

The final event of the night saw Italy’s Valerio Mosca and Great Britain’s Todd Geggus battle it out for the Boys A 3m Springboard final title.  

Since the second dive of the final, the pair always occupied first and second place – exchanging round-best dives with each passing attempt. 

With Mosca in second place following the preliminary rounds, his Forward 2 ½ Somersaults 2 Twists Pike (5154B) set him up well with a score of 74.80 and put him in provisional first place – a position he would remain in until round three.  

In that round, Geggus’ Inward 3 ½ Somersaults Tuck (407C) was tidy enough to see his 71.40 be enough for them to swap places. 

It was in the penultimate round where the Italian brought the heat, though. With it all on the line, he attempted a huge Forward 4 ½ Somersaults Tuck (109C) – which carries a difficulty of 3.8 – and kept it neat enough to send the crowd into raptures, as he reaped the benefits of the difficulty multiplier to the tune of 91.20 points, far and away one of the highest scoring dives of the week. 

That, followed by a controlled final dive, was enough for him to take the gold on a final score of 569.80. Geggus scored his best dive in the final round, a 78.20 for his Forward 2 ½ Somersaults 2 Twists Pike (5154B), which was a constellation for what was otherwise a very impressive effort as he took the silver medal on a score of 565.95, with Vladislav Kachanov taking the bronze thanks to two 70+ dives in his final two attempts. 

With two days left of the competition, the attention now turns to the platform once again, with the Girls B Platform. The Girls 3m Synchronised Springboard and Boys B 3m Springboard also feature in what is sure to be another blockbuster night of diving in Athens.  

Click here for the full results

Click here to watch all the action on European Aquatics TV

Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics