Pellacani pushing for more gold
Chiara Pellacani became the first person to win five diving medals at a single European Aquatics Championships, doing so on in her home city of Rome in 2022.
That total of European medals has since grown to 19, including eight golds. And as she heads towards Paris 2026 in search of more Pellacani, now 23, can reflect with huge satisfaction upon 2025, when she was voted EA’s female diver of the year.
After winning her first European 1m springboard title in Antalya she secured her first world individual medals, taking bronze in the women’s 1m and 3m springboard, and earning Italy’s first world diving gold in 10 years when she and Matteo Santoro combined victoriously in the mixed 3m synchro.
Look out for further accomplishments in Paris…
Great Britain synched for success
While Pellacani and Santoro look favourites for the mixed 3m synchro, Great Britain look capable of dominating the other synchro events given the concentration of talent they are fielding.
Their 15-strong team includes Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen, who won Paris 2024 bronze and 2025 world silver in the 3m synchro as well as Paris 2024 women’s 10m synchro bronze medallists Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Louis Tolson.
On the men’s side they have Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher, who won Olympic and then world bronze in the 3m synchro.
Ukraine defending highest diving position
Ukraine topped the medals table with five golds at last year’s European Diving Championships in Antalya, with Oleksii Sereda achieving victory in the 10m platform, mixed team and 10m synchro in partnership with the then 15-year-old Mark Hrytsenko.
Sereda, who at 13 became the youngest European diving champion when he won the 10m title at the 2019 home Championships in Kyiv, now has 11 European medals – eight of them gold. He wants more…
Heimberg hoping for more happy returns
One poor dive cost Switzerland’s Michelle Heimberg a place at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She took six months off to re-assess her life before deciding to return to the sport.
Last summer in Antalya she earned 3m springboard gold and 1m springboard bronze, bringing her total of European medals to two gold, three silver and three bronze.
Her impending contests with Pellacani promise to be among the highlights of Paris 2026.
Hunt relishing high diving showcase
With high diving not being part of the Olympics, double world champion Gary Hunt – who represented France in the 10m synchro at Paris 2024 – is welcoming the opportunity to showcase his speciality in the French capital.
Speaking at last week’s Paris 2026 press conference at the Eiffel Tower he told European Aquatics: “It’s a great opportunity to represent my sport – my speciality in high diving. It’s going to be a lot of fun diving into the River Seine.
“It’s particularly interesting because the dives will be from 20 metres, so it will be a surprise for many and interesting to see how everyone performs with a different set of dives than we’re used to at 27 metres. But that will make it exciting.”
Heslop back and in form after 2025 injury break
Great Britain’s Aidan Heslop heads into the European Aquatics Championships 2026 on the back of an incredible career comeback.
The 24-year-old high diving world champion from 2024 was forced to withdraw from the 2025 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series opener after being diagnosed with a herniated disc in his lumbar spine that was impinging on his sciatic nerve.
At the time, Heslop admitted he couldn’t even touch his toes, let alone high dive, and treatment involved medication and a cortisone injection as he faced an uncertain recovery timeline that ultimately kept him out for the rest of 2025.
But he will arrive in the French capital top of the overall World Cup standings and favourite for gold.
Mike Rowbottom and Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
