When the 2026 World Aquatics Diving World Cup opens in Montreal on Thursday, at least six of the nine finals will feature a current world champion.

On the men’s side, that means Osmar Olvera Ibarra of Mexico will headline the 3m springboard event; Cassiel Rousseau of Australia will be favored on the 10m platform; and Wang Zongyuan and Zheng Jiuyuan of the People’s Republic of China will be expected to shine in 3m synchro. The only missing male world champions from 2025 will be in 10m synchro, but the 2025 runners-up Nikita Schleikher and Ruslan Ternovoi will be there to represent Neutral Team B. 

As for the women, look for world champion Chen Yiwen to do double duty in 3m and 3m synchro with her World Championship gold-medal winning partner Chen Jia of China. In 10m synchro, world champion Zhang Minjie will have to match her dives with a new partner because Chen Yuxi (a two-time Olympic champion in the event) was not on the roster.

In addition, all-stars from Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Ukraine, and the United States will be among the 25 nations entered in this event.

The Canadian venue is also making a return – 50 years since it hosted the Montreal Olympics, and two years after a devastating fire just outside the facilities.

On the night of March 21, 2024, a blaze near the Olympic Stadium tower caused so much smoke and water damage that Canada not only had to relocate its Paris Olympic trials, but the extensive repair and decontamination efforts (which included cleaning nine kilometres of ventilation ducts) also prevented Montreal from hosting the 2025 World Aquatics World Cup.

But now, the facility is open and ready for 130 of the world’s top divers to compete.

What’s at stake

The 2026 Diving World Cup series will be held in three cities. Montreal is the first, followed by Zapopan, Mexico. At the first two stops, divers will try to earn points to help them qualify for the third event: the Super Final in Beijing, China (May 1-3). 

To that end, the top 30 individual divers, the top 12 synchro pairs, and the top 12 nations in the mixed team event in Montreal will earn points based on their finishes. Points will be similarly awarded at the World Cup in Mexico, March 5-8. After that, the top 12 individual divers who have competed in both World Cups (but not more than two per nation) will qualify for the Super Final.  The top eight synchro and mixed teams with the highest point totals will qualify for Beijing.

In addition, divers who finish 1-2-3 in Montreal will earn $5,000, $4,000, or $3,000, respectively. The Super Final pay-out will be five times each of those amounts for the same finishes.

Schedule

There will be one final in Montreal on Friday, followed by four finals each on Saturday and Sunday.

Friday’s medals will be awarded in the mixed team event.

Saturday’s line-up will include: men’s 3m synchro, women’s 10m synchro, women’s 3m, and the ever-suspenseful men’s 10m.

Sunday will begin with women’s 3m synchro, followed by men’s 10m synchro, women’s 10m platform, and men’s 3m springboard.