On Friday, Lacey Hema of Australia became the first World Aquatics junior world champion in high diving by beating two Canadians in the 15-16-year-old girls’ age group on the 12m tower in Brasilia.  Hema led after each of the four rounds, and took gold decisively, 67.20 points ahead of Kelly-Ann Tessier of Canada who overtook fellow Canadian Fiona Keilly on the final dive for silver. Keilly claimed the bronze medal, as there were only three divers in the competition, all of whom celebrated their 16th birthdays within the last two weeks. Hema said she plans to pursue high diving as a career and is currently mentored by Xantheia Pennisi who placed fifth at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha in February.

The 17-19-year-old high divers also began their march toward junior world titles. Recaps below.

Girls’ 15m (age 17-19) – after rounds 1+2

Image Source: Satiro Sadre/World Aquatics

After two rounds of diving on the 15m platform, 17-year-old China’s Ge Zhenyu is 2.95 points ahead of Maya Kelly of the US at the midpoint of the girls’ age 17-19 event. Ge took the lead on her second dive, the hardest dive in the 10-athlete field, a back triple (206C with a 4.0 degree of difficulty) which earned 96.00 points. Australia’s Stella Forsyth is currently in third place. Worth noting: this is the first time China has sent a team to compete in World Aquatics high diving. 

Image Source: Victor Feldman/World Aquatics

Also of note: Kelly, the American, placed sixth at the World Cup in Bahrain three weeks ago; she will compete in the senior World Cup here on Saturday and Sunday as well. Junior world champions will be crowned in this event on Saturday, after the girls complete two more dives.  

Boys 15m (age 17-19) – after rounds 1+2

Image Source: Satiro Sadre/World Aquatics

At the midpoint of the boys’ 15m contest, only 2.65 points separate the top-three divers (age 17-19). China’s Li Hao leads the way, 1.40 points ahead of Brazil’s Rafael Borges who, interestingly, competed on the 1m and 3m springboards at the World Aquatics Championships in 2024 and 2022. Borges, in turn, is only 1.25 points ahead of Canada’s Alex Tiaglei, an ex-gymnast from Winnipeg. The most anticipated moment, however, was when Li’s teammate Tao Baijing threw a 627C in the second round. It was the toughest dive attempted by any of the 18 boys competing, but the 5.4 degree-of-difficulty maneuver only scored 5s and 6s, so Tao is currently in sixth place (behind Hao, Borges, Tiaglei, and two Ukrainians) with two dives remaining on Saturday.

What's Coming Up Next  

Saturday will mark the end of the 2024 junior high diving world championships when the boys and girls (age 17-19) make their last two dives on the 15m platform. The boys’ 12m competition will also resume WHEN?  Also, the World Cup begins with women’s senior elite competition on the 20m tower at 13:45 Brasilia time, followed by the men on 27m at 15:45. The World Cup will conclude on Sunday with the final two dives for men and women.