Tuesday brought a full and gripping programme to the Duna Arena on the second day of the European Aquatics Junior Diving Championships Hungary 2026, with four events producing a pair of golds for both Ukraine and Russia, in what was a series of close finishes.
The afternoon opened with the boys b 1m springboard final, and it was Ukraine’s Nazarii Kononenko who set the tone for the day. Leading from the preliminary round, Kononenko produced four dives of mounting quality to finish on 414.35 points, a margin of over 16 points ahead of Switzerland’s Antoine Chevnine in second on 398.30.
The Ukrainian’s reverse 2 1/2 somersaults tuck (305C) in the penultimate round was enough to put the competition almost beyond all doubt as he proceeded to storm to victory.
Russia’s Miroslav Kiselev completed the podium with 390.50, while Germany’s Hans Hermann Rudi Bollmann finished fourth and compatriot Linus Noah Schwarz sixth.
In the girls b 3m springboard final, Ukraine’s Alina Polonets continued the country’s impressive showing as she delivered a supremely consistent display across her three dives to take gold with 388.00 points.
Scoring first in each round, including an outstanding back 2½ somersaults tuck (205C) in the second dive that earned 63.00 points, Polonets kept Belarus’s Aliaksandra Puz at arm’s length throughout, with Puz finishing on 377.10. Russia provided the bronze medallist in Ekaterina Shmeleva, whose third dive, again a Back 2½ Somersaults, matched Polonets’ highest score of the day and confirmed her place on the podium with 370.45.
Russia’s Margarita Kuvshinova finished fourth and Hungary’s Luca Fehér fifth, to the delight of the home crowd. After her victory, Polonets said: “I’m really happy, this is a great result for me. It was a very tough competition and I’m happy to finish first.”
The proceedings then moved to the synchro events, which saw each entry compete in straight finals. In the boys synchronised platform, Russia’s pairing of Kirill Belavin and Miroslav Kiselev, the latter having already won bronze in the individual springboard earlier in the day, produced a polished and cohesive display to win gold with 302.82.
Their fifth and final dive, a back 2½ somersaults 1½ twists pike (5253B), was the highest-scoring dive of the final at 75.84 and was enough to see the country take their second gold medal of the competition, following their team event triumph the previous day.
Ukraine’s Kononenko and Malieiev pushed them all the way, finishing just 9.30 points adrift on 293.52, while Germany’s Erik Amezquita Schmidtke and Iven Prenzyna claimed bronze on 287.97. Italy’s Davide Barberi and Raffaele Pelligra were fourth, Switzerland’s Lenny Wirz and Erik Passerone fifth, and Great Britain’s Jorden Fisher-Eames and Robbie Wood sixth.
The final event of the night, the girls synchronised platform, was arguably Russia’s best performance yet. Viktoriia Kazantseva and Aleksandra Kedrina were leading the competition when their third dive, a forward 3½ somersaults pike (107B) saw them drop to third and momentarily opening the door to their rivals. Speaking afterwards, they reflected on that pivotal moment, admitting they had been anxious going into the final two dives and had needed to refocus and calm themselves before finishing strongly.
Their fourth dive, an inward 3½ somersaults tuck (407C), earning them a score of 71.04, and a brilliant closing back 2½ somersaults 1½ twists pike (5253B) worth 74.88 restored their dominance, and they finished on 288.42 to take gold, in a repeat of what they did at the same competition in Athens just 12 months ago.
Behind them, Great Britain’s Corin Burrows Mackley and Juliette John put in a solid performance in what was one of their first international outings as a pairing. “This is our second international competition as a pair, so we’re really happy to have got the medal,” they said afterwards. “And also our first time doing back twists, so we’re really happy to have done those dives decently.”
Their silver on 267.42 saw them edge Ukraine’s Sofia Esman and Diana Shevchenko into bronze by just 0.54 points in a dramatic conclusion to the evening. Germany’s Jule Leonie Eisenberg and Charlotte Lederer finished fourth and Hungary’s Cathleen Kim Bora and Csenge Tunde Toth fifth, to warm applause from the home crowd.
Competition continues on Wednesday with the A category 1m Boys Preliminary and A Platform Girls Preliminary from 09:30, with finals from 16:00 local time.
Click here to watch all of the action on EuroAquaticsTV.
Click here to access the event page, which includes live start lists and results.
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
