European divers will seek to make a medal impact at the World Aquatics Championships as their nine-day competition starts tomorrow at the OCBC Aquatics Centre.
A total of 13 titles will be on offer, and although China – winners of nine golds at last year’s Championships in Doha and all eight at the Paris 2024 Olympics – will arrive in expectation of plenty there will still be chances for athletes who excelled at last month’s European Aquatics Diving Championships in Antalya.
Ukraine topped the medals table in Turkiye and will have high hopes of its composed and competitive 19-year-old, Oleksii Sereda, who earned 10m platform and 10m synchro bronze in Doha before taking seventh place in the Olympic 10m platform event.
He was an inspiring winner of the European 10m platform title and combined with 15-year-old Mark Hrytsenko to secure the 10m synchro title.
Antalya also showcased the world-class talent of Germany’s Moritz Wesemann, who won the 1m springboard and 3m synchro in partnership with Timo Barthel as well as taking 3m springboard bronze.
He will not be out of place in the best company over the next few days.
Italy, meanwhile, will be looking for further glories from 22-year-old Chiara Pellacani, who already has four world medals – two silvers and a bronze in 3m mixed synchro and a bronze in the women’s 3m synchro.
She was a classy winner of the 1m springboard in Antalya, as was her team-mate Sarah Jodoin Di Maria in the 3m springboard.
Another European to watch out for in the women’s springboard events will be Switzerland’s Michelle Heimberg, revivified after taking a break from the sport, who took 1m bronze and 3m gold in Turkiye.
Great Britain was the only European nation to reach the top step of the podium in diving at last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Doha with victory in the team event thanks to Tom Daley, Daniel Goodfellow, Scarlett Mew Jensen and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix.
Daley, who went on to earn 10m synchro silver at the Paris 2024 Games with Noah Williams, has since retired, as has Goodfellow, although their female team-mates are still in full flight having earned bronze medals at last year’s Olympics.
Jensen will link up again with Yasmin Harper to contest the women’s 3m synchro in which they won Paris 2024 bronze.
Jack Laugher, who won Rio 2016 gold with Chris Mears in the 3m synchro, is taking part in his eighth successive World Championships – one of eight British divers who competed at last year’s Olympics.
Meanwhile after the first four rounds of high diving in Singapore, two highly experienced European athletes are promisingly placed ahead of Sunday’s conclusion to the men’s 27m competition, which is sadly lacking the attendance of Britain’s defending champion Aidan Heslop, last year’s European Aquatics Athlete of the Year in men’s high diving, who is out injured.
Romania’s 36-year-old Constantin Popovici, world champion in 2023, leads the standings with 452.30 points from Spain’s 35-year-old Carlos Gimeno, who is just 1.65 off the lead.
James Lichenstein of the United States holds third position, 40.75 off the lead, followed by three other European challengers.
They are Popovici’s team-mate Catalin-Petru Preda, world silver medallist in 2023 and bronze medallist last year, France’s 2024 silver medallis Gary Hunt – who previously won this title for Britain – and Andrea Barnaba of France.
Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
