People's Republic of China sweeps 4 synchro events on Day 1

On Friday, People's Republic of China proved once again that it remains far ahead of the rest of the world in synchronized diving. How far? It won all four synchro events in Berlin by gaping margins (53.73 points, on average) over the four silver medalists.

The day started and finished on the 10m platform, acting as book ends to the 3m synchro events. For brief recaps and reactions, read on.

Women’s Synchro 10m

The Super-Final began with women’s synchro 10m, and China led after each round. This victory, by far, had the largest winning margin of the day.  Although the two-time world champion duo of Chen Yuxi, 16, and Quan Hongchan, 17, didn’t have any perfect scores, they executed three dives that earned more than 80 points apiece to inflate their winning 362.76-point tally, 74.76 points ahead of the runners-up, Caeli McKay and Kate Miller of Canada. The Canadians moved ahead of Great Britain on their last dive, a back 2½ with 1½ twists pike. British bronze medalists Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson completed the podium, only 2.10 points behind Canada.

Afterwards, Chen said she was pleased to be No. 1 again, but wasn’t satisfied. It had been 19 days since she and Quan had won their second world championship together in Fukuoka, Japan. “We didn’t show our best performance [here],” Chen said, “because the world championship is very close to the World Cup.” 

Canada, in contrast, was delighted with the silver in Berlin, especially since it was only McKay and Miller’s third time competing together. “We knew we had nothing to lose,” McKay, 24, said, “so we just wanted to have fun and put it all out there. We did. Now we can celebrate.”

“This is a great way to finish our season and a great way to start our new season coming up,” added Miller, 17, the only woman on Friday’s podium who hadn’t yet competed in an Olympics. “There’s more to come between us. This is not the last thing that we’ll be on the podium for.” 

Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix, 19, said the bronze “feels great. Lois and I have been on the podium at every competition that we’ve done this year. I’m very happy with what we did, given our physical condition. We’ve had a really long season so I’m really-really proud.”

Men’s Synchro 3m

The new world champions in men’s synchro 3m didn’t disappoint. China’s Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan outscored all seven other pairs on each of their six dives to break the 400-point barrier and claim the gold, 56.04 points ahead of the silver medalists from Great Britain, Jordan Houlden and Anthony Harding, a two-time world silver medalist with Jack Laugher. (Houlden was filling in for the injured Laugher.) Italy’s Lorenzo Marsaglia, 26, and Giovanni Tocci, 26, placed third, 13.53 points behind the Brits. 

Harding said after collecting so many silvers, “I see Great Britain as a team behind China, second across the world – as a whole team, as a nation, not just me. I’m fortunate to have other divers in my team like Jordan and Jack.”

Houlden added, “Obviously, it’s a tough, tough thing to replace Jack Laugher. I’ve just stepped in, not to let Anthony down. Jack’s always going to be the main one. [Anthony and I] used to do synchro together four years ago, for two years, then Anthony had the opportunity to go with Jack. That’s a really good opportunity, and they’re at the same training center. I’m a 40-minute drive away, not too bad, but it’s still a kerfuffle.” 

As for Italy, which was hovering in third and fourth place after each round, Friday’s bronze was their first podium in the 2023 World Cup. “Maybe this time was better because the pool was awesome or we were well prepared,” Marsaglia said.

Women’s Synchro 3m

China’s two-time world champions in women’s synchro 3m, Chang Yani, 21, and Chen Yiwen, 24,  continued their success on Friday, 24.99 points (and more) ahead of the field.

“I think every round I can do better,” said Chang. “Long season this year; many diving World Cups and world championships.”

Second, third, and fourth place were all within five points of each other. 

Canada’s Mia Vallee, 22, and Pamela Ware leaped into silver-medal position on their last dive, a forward 2½ with one twist pike. They had been in fifth place during the first three rounds. Sarah Bacon, 26, and Kassidy Cook, 28, of the US, who tied China on the first low-DD dive, took bronze, a slim 2.58 points behind the Canadians.  Notably missing from the podium was the British pair who took silver at the world championships just two weeks ago in Fukuoka, Japan; Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen. They placed fourth, 2.58 points away from a bronze-medal tie. 

Interestingly, one of the silver medalists watched the scores, while the other did not. Ware said that going into the final dive, “I knew we were in fourth, but I also knew we were only two points away from third and six points away from second so we needed a good dive to be on the podium.”

Meanwhile, Vallee said, “I’d kind of assumed we were top three, but I had no idea. I just went into that last dive [thinking] if I put a good dive down, I can walk away happy, whatever the results are.”

Since Ware was aware, she tried to stay loose. “I was doing my thing,” she said, “dancing on the board before going, enjoying myself and making [Mia] smile which is one of the most important things for me to do with her. And it worked! We had a really good day and we’re really proud of ourselves!”

The US admitted to some flaws en route to the bronze. “I missed my reverse dive,” Bacon said. “I was a little bit over the end of the board in my hurdle. Kassidy missed one of her dives, front 3½ pike, our fourth-round dive. We tried to fight for every point that we could.”

“I think we kept our head in the game,” Cook added.

“Overall, a great World Cup season,” Bacon said. “We would have like to have done better at world championships, but third is a confidence booster for us. [We hope to] carry it forward and go get our Olympic spot the next time around.”

Men’s Synchro 10m

In the final event, China’s reigning world champions, Lian Junjie, 22, and Yang Hao, 25, earned seven perfect scores – the only ones of the day – including five for their second dive, on a simple back dive pike (2.0 DD). In each round, they increased their lead, and after claiming another gold, they were off to prepare for the Asian Games in October, in Hangzhou, China.

“We don’t have any vacation,” Yang said. “We will have training as normal.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s Domonic Bedggood, 28, and Cassiel Rousseau, 22, rocketed out of fifth place after four dives to claim silver.

“As Aussies we pride ourselves on always fighting to the end,” Bedggood said. “For Cassiel and myself, to finish with that [medal] really gives us confidence leading into the Olympic season.”

The tattooed Rousseau had made a name for himself on the last day of the 2023 World Championships when he snapped China’s six-year winning streak at the world championships by capturing gold in the individual 10m event. Asked how it felt to be announced for the first time as a world champion, he said, “They said world champion from Canada, I think. I mean, no different [than] if I hadn’t won. I’m the same person. I haven’t changed at all. I’ve obviously worked hard this week. I don’t feel [extra] pressure, no.”  

Mexico finished third, just as it had at the world championships, but this time Randal Willars Valdez, 21, competed with Jose Balleza Isaias, 28, instead of Kevin Berlin Reyes. But it wasn’t their first competition together as partners. Adapting was “a little bit difficult, but normal,” Willars said. “We adjusted fine.” 

Mexico had been in second place after six dives, before Australia edged past them by 3.45 points on their last dive. Mexico’s back 2½ with 1½ twists pike (with 3.2 DD) was easier but fraught. “Personally, I felt nervous in the last dive because it’s a dive I didn’t do [for] about five years,” Willars said. “Long time I’m not doing that dive, but I feel happy for the result. Mexico is doing great.”

Mexico earned six medals in diving at the 2023 world championships – second only to China in total.

Looking Ahead

Saturday’s two finals will include the men’s 3m individual event and women’s 10m individual platform. Check out the live stream at World Aquatics.