Catalin-Petru Preda, 34, was the final diver in the men’s competition. He had just seen two world champions get knocked off the podium in the final round. As he prepared to execute the hardest dive in the contest (a 6.1 DD armstand back 4½), all the pressure was on his long-haired shoulders. Preda not only nailed the dive, but he scored 152.50 points to clinch the win, 55.35 points ahead of the unexpected runner-up Davide Baraldi, 24, of Italy, who began the day in sixth place. Jonathan Paredes, 36, of Mexico, placed third, less than nine points behind Baraldi. The 2023 world champion Constantin Popovici, 37, of Romania, and the 2024 world champion Aidan Heslop, 24, of Great Britain, finished fourth and fifth, respectively. 

Saturday’s gold medal marked quite comeback for Preda, who was granted a rare re-dive on Friday due to noise interference. The do-over enabled him to score 43.35 more points than his original dive would have earned, but even without that redemptive opportunity in the second round, Preda would have won anyway, mathematically.

The women’s 20m event also featured a crazy come-from-behind finish. Similar to the men’s competition, only one of the divers who had been in the top three after the first two rounds on Friday finished on Saturday’s podium. For the men, it was Preda. For the women it was Iris Schmidbauer, 31, of Germany.

In the final round, Schmidbauer nailed the second-most difficult dive in the contest to vault into first place, 8.95 points ahead Molly Carlson, 27, of Canada, who pulled herself up from fifth place on her final dive and had nearly quit the sport a month ago. Right behind Carlson was American Kaylea Arnett who came out of ninth place to score an event-high 106.60 points for her reverse triple pike.  At that point, only one diver remained: Herculano.

Herculano, 26, needed more than 95.15 points to claim her first World Cup victory, but a splashy entry on her back twisting triple pike (5262B) scored 62.70 points which left her in seventh place.  

Here’s how the medalists assessed their performances:

Women’s 20m

Schmidbauer, the women’s winner, said, “I always believe that I have the potential to win, to perform.” As a new mom, she added, “I'm still the same person. I still have the same dreams. I am just so happy that [I can] still chase my dream [and] that I finally was able to put it together.”

Runner-up Carlson said, “I am ecstatic with today. Honestly, I almost quit a month ago. For so many years, I was pushing the limits of [my] degree of difficulty, trying to do the world's hardest dives, trying to be perfect, and it ate me up inside – as an anxious person, trying to be perfect in a sport that never gives out 10s often. 

“So I'm super proud of myself for showing up and choosing dives that made me feel comfortable. I bedazzled my suit. I really wanted to go out there and shine and enjoy it. So, for the first time ever, I enjoyed competing, and [land]ed me on the podium.”

Arnett, the American, called her bronze medal “a big boost of confidence, for sure. This was a great, great first competition for me.” Going into the season opener, Arnett said, “I just wanted to take it easy. Don't do too many reps. Don't practice too much. Treat this competition more like a practice. I'm really happy to get my big reverse triple back off, 'cause I haven't done it since September. So that was a big moment for me.”

Men’s 27m

Preda, the men’s winner said, “Yesterday was a good day and today was an even greater day, finishing on top of the podium. Victory just tastes so, so sweet. I'm beyond happy and extremely grateful.

“I think I achieved that. So I feel fulfilled. It's been a lot of work, learning how to manage pressure, how to get the nerves in check and really reframe the pressure for something that I can take advantage of.”

Runner-up Davide Baraldi, 24, of Italy said, “A lot of times I dreamed to be on the podium, and today when I was seeing the medals, I was like, ‘Oh, I want one of them.’ I know one day I can take one of them. I didn't suspect this day to come [now], but I'm very happy with it.”

In Italy, Baraldi added that “diving from 27 meters is very rare because we don't have [a tower that high] in Italy. We just dive from 27 meters when we come to training camps here in Fort Lauderdale or Austria, or for the competition.”

As for Preda’s re-dive, Baraldi said, “I wasn't watching. I don't watch competition usually because I want to stay in my in my bubble. But if it was for a good reason, it was good.”

For Paredes, 36, a three-time World Championship medalist (dating back to 2013), Saturday’s bronze-medal performance caught him a bit off-guard.

“What a surprise,” Paredes said. “Honestly, I haven't expected this. I know my DD is not the [highest], so I'm just diving and hoping for these kind of results. Every time, it’s getting more and more difficult for me; I got more scared every time. But in the end, I’m happy to start the year like that. Tonight, we are heading to Indonesia for the first competition with Red Bull. Jumping on a plane, knowing that you just won a medal, it's great.”