China is off to a golden start in diving at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships. On Saturday afternoon, it won the Mixed Team event. Of course, it helped that three of its four divers entered the event with eight Olympic and world championship gold medals apiece (!) before collectively claiming a ninth.
SINGAPORE – With an all-star lineup like Cheng Zilong, 19, Chen Yiwen, 26,Cao Yuan, 30, and Chen Yuxi, 19, it’s no surprise that China opened diving at the 2025 world championships with a gold. In the Mixed Team event, it put up a score of 466.25 points, nearly 40 ahead of runner-up Mexico and more than 56 points ahead of bronze-medalist Japan.
Chen Yiwen said, “This is the first time the four of us are taking part in this mixed team event, and we feel very glad to have done so. I think us springboard divers gave the platform divers a little bit of pressure towards the end,” she said, referring to the slim 2.30-point difference between China and Mexico after the three springboard rounds, “but our platform divers performed incredibly today.”
Mexico had the hardest dive list and put it to good use to claiming its third consecutive team silver. Randal Willars Valdez, 23, was the only member returning from the 2023 and 2024 quartets. This year, he was joined by two-time Olympic medalist Osmar Olvera Ibarra, 21, Alejandra Estudillo Torres, 20, and 15-year-old Zyanya Yunuen.
“It feels great,” Olvera Ibarra said, “I think it’s a good result for the next few events moving forward. We have a lot of fans… so it’s awesome to win a medal today and make them proud.”
Japan’s bronze was its first medal in the seventh edition of the Mixed Team event, which dates back 2015 in Kazan, Russia.
“We were thinking it would be good result if we got the top eight,” said Rin Kaneto, 22, of Japan.
“This is my first international competition after having surgery on my knees,” she added. “This is a big comeback. I had my surgery in March last year. I had surgery three times [on my left knee] and one surgery on my right one. I was thinking it would be very hard to come back to this level, but I’m here because of all the people who have been supporting me. This is for all of those who supported me.”
The United States, Neutral B athletes, Italy, and Ukraine finished fourth through seventh.
The stunner was that Australia, the 2024 bronze medalist, placed 14th – after the 2023 world champion in men’s 10m, Cassiel Rouseau, missed forward 2½ with two twists on the 3m springboard. It came in the second round (of six) and had a 3.4 degree of difficulty.
“This one was pretty much just to get the cobwebs out of the way,” Rousseau said. Obviously, I had that little muck up on 3m. I’m not a springboard diver but I want to be, so I’m just starting to prepare for that.
“I thought I did a good hurdle, and then I heard the board go, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, a lot faster than usual, and that freaked me out. When I went, I couldn’t get my mind off that. So I just got lost in the air, and pulled out of it.
“It happens. It’s not gonna mess me up for the future. That was good fun. The girls did well, I’m happy for them, happy with my performance as well on platform.”
Notably: Of the 21 nations entered, the 2024 world champion, Great Britain, was not among them.
Up Next: Find out who will win the first individual diving medal at the World Aquatics Championships 2025 – Singapore, in the Women’s 1m final later on Saturday at 19:00 Singapore time.