Kazan welcomes junior divers for the World Championships

According to the organisers, some 200 participants from 34 countries have come to Kazan to play out 15 sets of medals. The specialty of the Junior Championships is that there are two age classes: “A” - for the divers aged 16 to 18, and “B” – for the teenagers, which are 14 and 15 years old.

There are 15 events on the list, including 1m and 3m springboard, 5m – 7.5m - 10m platform for the competitors in the group A and B, as well as 3m springboard synchro event mixing A and B, and the mixed team event will enter the program for the first time ever.

 The news were made public at the press conference, which saw a large media participation just before the Opening Ceremony on Day 1. Following the tradition, the intro was done by the FINA and LOC officials.

In his opening speech, FINA Technical Diving Committee Vice-Chairman and Russian Diving Federation President Alexey Vlasenko congratulated the Organising Committee on the successful start and wished good luck to the young competitors.

“There is no doubts for me, the local Organising Committee is full ready for the start." – he emphasized. – "Everything goes smoothly and flawlessly. As for me it is always a big pleasure to come to Kazan, which has lately become one of the world's most important centres for aquatic sports."

"The 21st FINA World Junior Diving Championships is taking place just 3 months after the conclusion of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and we do believe, that among the divers, competing for the medals in Kazan, will be the future diving stars, who will soon shine bright at  numerous FINA major events worldwide”,  added FINA official.

In his message to the media, Vladimir Leonov, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan, expressed sincere gratitude to FINA for their all-round support in promotion of sport in the area.

“In 2015 we hosted the 16th FINA World Championships, following which we had a number of major FINA events staged here. This July we provided the floor for the FINA World Junior Synchronised Swimming Championships, and it turned to be a success as well. We are looking for the start of the event, which will be very spectacular and interesting, and hope, that our spectators will enjoy following the competitions of the best world junior divers”, - concluded Vladimir Leonov.

“Thanks to the good number of major diving events our city got recently, there is a steady inflow of children and juniors wishing to master diving in our sport schools, - noted Damir Fattakhov, Tatarstan Diving Federation President, - "This reflects the positive trends and serves as the best promotion of diving and healthy lifestyle in the area”.

The first medals of the 21st FINA World Junior Diving Championships will be played out tonight at the Aquatics Palace of Kazan in the Mixed team event.

The previous edition of the FINA World Junior Diving Championships took place in 2014 in Penza, which is another Russian city, some 600 km from Kazan. The team of China dominated the overall medal’s standing with 14 medals, including 7 titles out of 14 on offer. The other gold winning nations were Australia, Mexico, Denmark, USA, Columbia and Japan. The home team of Russia got 8 podium presences with 7 silver and 1 bronze, whereas Great Britain and Germany completed the list of the National Federations with the awarded divers in Penza.

Competition schedule

November, 28
16:30 Opening Ceremony
17:30 Mixed team event

November, 29
10:00 Boys A 3m springboard preliminary
Girls B 1m springboard preliminary
18:00 Boys A 3m springboard final
Girls B 1m springboard final

November, 30
10:00 Girls A 1m springboard preliminary
Girls A platform preliminary
18:00 Girls A 1m springboard final
Girls A platform final
Boys A/B 3m synchro springboard final

December, 1
10:00 Boys B 1m springboard preliminary
Girls A 3m springboard preliminary
18:00 Boys B 1m springboard final
Girls A 3m springboard final

December, 2
10:00 Boys A 1m springboard preliminary
Boys B platform preliminary
18:00 Boys A 1m springboard final
Boys B platform final
Girls A/B 3m synchro springboard final

December, 3
10:00 Boys B 3m springboard preliminary
Girls A platform preliminary
18:00 Boys B 3m springboard final
Girls A platform final

December, 4
10:00 Girls B 3m springboard preliminary
Boys A platform preliminary
18:00 Girls B 3m springboard final
Boys A platform final