News

Diving World Series

Moscow, RUSSIA - China secured the two last gold medals in the final day of the 2013 FINA/Midea Diving World Series, organised in Moscow (RUS) from April 26-28. In the individual 10m platform, the Asian divers always controlled the operations, giving their team a total of seven titles in the Russian capital.

The men’s 10m final became an historical one: Russian diver Victor Minibaev executed the unique dive that had never been executed before – a 2.5 Back with 3.5 twists (DD – 4.3). For comparison, a 4.5 forward - considered to be the most difficult one on the platform a couple of years ago - is only worth a DD 3.7.

When somebody breaks the limit, it is necessarily a very special moment. There is just a few divers that execute a dive with more than DD 4.0. Ivan Garcia, from Mexico, was the first to do a 4.4 Inward and performed it successfully at the 2011 Worlds and then at the Olympics. Evgeny Kuznetsov (RUS) started to do a 4.5 Back this season but is not ready to include this combination into his competitive programme.

Read more

Diving World Series

Moscow, RUSSIA - China didn't shake in the first individual events at the 2013 FINA/Midea Diving World Series, being held in Moscow (RUS) from April 26-28. In the second day of the event, the representatives of the powerhouse in the discipline managed to perfectly control their main opponents and conquer two more gold medals.

The women’s 3m springboard used to be the most conservative event in the diving programme: during the last dozen of years the difficulty of the dives remained in the same level. If, from one hand, this helps to keep a very high level of quality, on the other hand, it also allows that every diver taking part in the World Series is able to shine and fight for he top positions.

Shi Tingmao proved again that she will become one of the biggest stars of this season. Before the last round, she was keeping the leadership quite confidently – ahead of her compatriot He Zi, who won gold and silver at the London Olympics and the same medal set at the 2011 Worlds in Shanghai.

Read more

Diving World Series

Moscow, RUSSIA - China collected three gold medals in the first day of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series, taking place in Moscow (RUS) from April 26-28. Only with synchronized events, the day concluded with one victory from Ukraine, in the men’s synchro 3m springboard.

In the morning, the women’s and men’s 10m synchro platform didn't gather many participants: four teams were fighting for the medals in the first competition and only three in the second.

Among women, China, Canada, Malasia and Russia fought for the medals. Both Chinese (Si Yajie/Liu Huixia) and Canadian (twin sisters Carol-Ann and Pamela Ware) delegations sent to Moscow young athletes, while Russia was represented by one of its most experienced duets – silver medallists of 2004 Olympics Yulia Koltunova/Natalia Goncharova. The team made one mistake (Koltunova missed her entry after a 3.5 Inward tuck) and finished third. The top honours came to China (gold) and Malaysia (silver).

Read more

Diving World Series

Edinburgh, GREAT BRITAIN - 18-year old Thomas Daley (GBR), the pride of a whole nation, delivered a magnificent performance, snatching the men's 10m platform title on the final day of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series held in Edinburgh (GBR) at the Royal Commonwealth Pool from April 19-21.

In the women's field, young Chinese diving prospects Yajie Sie and Huixia Liu finished 1-2 in the 10m platform, maintaining the golden standard of the sport's traditional powerhouse nation.

Read more

Open Water Grand Prix

Under the sun of the Mexican Caribbean, Italy clearly dominated the operations, winning four medals out of the six on offer in the pristine waters of the Cozumel island, which hosted the Mexican leg of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix for the first time on April 20.
 
A week after winning the 10km World Cup race in the same waters, Grimaldi took out the women's Grand Prix race, touching home in 3h21m44s2. The Olympic bronze medallist was closely followed by Angela Maurer (GER), who took second in a time of 3h21m47s9 while compatriot Rachele Bruni claimed the bronze in 3h21m55s2.

Read more

Diving World Series

Edinburgh, GREAT BRITAIN - Fresh from his Dubai gold, Illya Kvasha from Ukraine continued his spectacular form, taking his second gold of the season in the men's 3m springboard on day 2 of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series 2013, held at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh from April 19-21.

Zi He lifted China's overall gold total to 4 after taking out the women's 3m springboard, an event she has dominated since 2009 at World Series. The 2012 Olympic silver medallist and 2011 World champion in the event took the lead with her first dive - an Inward 2.5 Somersault, Piked scoring 76.50 points - to finish the competition with 375.90 points, only 1.65 points clear of second-placed and teammate Tingmao Shi, who had finished on top of semi-final A in the morning.

Read more

Diving World Series

Edinburgh, GREAT BRITAIN - Claiming three wins out of four in synchro events, Team China set the tone on day 1 of the British leg of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series 2013, taking place at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh from April 19-21. Russia's Artem Chesakov/Victor Minibaev won the men's 10m platform synchro.

Taking a decisive lead after the fourth round, new Chinese pair Huixia Liu/Yajie Si took out the women's 10m platform synchro final with a total score of 338.64, extending their country's unbeaten streak in this event to 20 victories throughout five World Series editions.

Read more

10km Marathon Swimming World Cup

Martina Grimaldi (ITA) and Daniel Fogg (GBR) emerged victorious at the fourth stop of the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup 2013, held for the first time in Cozumel, Mexico. The event had a record 128 participants (53 women and 75 men) from 24 countries, who swam in the crystal-clear waters of the Mexican Caribbean and enjoyed the naturally stunning scene.

The women's race was very close and featured a high level of competition. The top-five finishers arrived in a mass finish, within split seconds of one another, and only a photo finish decided which one of them was the winner.

Read more

Kazan 2015

With 100 days to go for the start of the 2013 Summer Universiade, taking place in Kazan (RUS) from July 6-17, the new Aquatics Palace in the capital of Tatarstan is getting ready to welcome the swimmers to this major event. The superb facility will also be the central stage of the 16th FINA World Championships, scheduled in Kazan from July 19-August 2, 2015.

For the first time in FINA's history, the 2015 FINA World Championships will be immediately followed, using the same venues, by the FINA World Masters Championships, a competition gathering over 10,000 athletes from 25 to over 90 years old.

Read more

Diving World Series

Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - China returned to the top of the podium tonight to take out the final two events on the competition programme at this year’s FINA/Midea Diving World Series Dubai. After the shock result last night when China was beaten into third in the men’s 3m springboard finals, China reasserted themselves as the world leaders with commanding performances in both  the men’s and women’s 10m platform finals.

In the women’s final, the dual world and Olympic champion Chen Ruolin continued her spectacular form, taking her second gold of the meet to go with the 10m synchro gold she won with partner Liu Huixia on Thursday. As is customary for her, Roulin took the lead with her first dive and produced another consistent display to finish the competition with 403.85, 21.95 points clear of second placed Meaghan Benfeito (CAN).

Read more