FINA is best known for swimming, of course, but it supports its other disciplines with seasonal series, including a World Series for Diving and for Artistic Swimming. Both will start this weekend.
● Diving World Series in Sagamihara
The Sagamihara Green Pool in Japan will be the site for the first of five Diving World Series competitions, from Friday through Sunday. This is the top-tier series for divers, and has been completely dominated by China.
In 2018, Chinese divers won all 10 events at the first two events, seven of eight they entered in the third event and seven of eight in the final event: that’s 34 out of 36. In 2017, it was 37 out of 40.
The entries for the first World Series shows some excellent fields, especially medal winners from the 2016 Rio Games and the 2017 World Championships:
Men’s 3m Springboard:
● Yuan Cao (CHN) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion
● Siyi Xie (CHN) ~ 2017 World Champion
● Patrick Hausding (GER) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze; 2017 Worlds silver
● Jack Laugher (GBR) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist
Men’s 10 m Platform:
● Aisen Chen (CHN) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion; 2017 Worlds silver
● Jian Yang (CHN) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
● Tom Daley (GBR) ~ 2017 World Champion
Men’s 3 m Synchro:
● Daniel Goodfellow/Jack Laugher (GBR) ~ Laugher: 2016 Olympic Champion
● Yuan Cao/Siyi Xie (CHN) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalists
● Evgenii Kuznetsov/Nikita Shleikher (RUS) ~ Kuznetsov: 2017 World Champion
● Oleg Kolodiy/Olek Gorshkovozov (UKR) ~ Kolodiy: 2017 Worlds bronze
Men’s 10 m Synchro:
● Aisen Chen/Yuan Cao (CHN) ~ Chen: 2016 Olympic Champion
● Tom Daley/Matthew Lee (GBR) ~ Daley: 2016 Olympic bronzr
● Aleksandr Bondar/Viktor Minibaev (RUS) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalists
Women’s 3 m Springboard:
● Tingmao Shi (CHN) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion; 2017 World Champion
● Han Wang (CHN) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist
● Jennifer Abel (CAN) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
Women’s 10 m Platform:
● Qian Ren (CHN) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion; 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
● Meaghan Benfeito (CAN) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze medalist
Women’s 3 m Synchro:
● Tingmao Shi/Han Wang (CHN): Shi: 2016 Olympic Champion; 2017 World Champion
● Maddison Keeney/Annabelle Smith (AUS) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze medalists
● Jennifer Abel/Melissa Citrini Beaulieu (CAN) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalists
Women’s 10 m Synchro:
● Pandelela Pamg/Nur Sabri (MAS) ~ Pamg: 2016 Olympic silver medalist
● Meaghan Benfeito/Caeli McKay (CAN) ~ Benfeito: 2016 Olympic bronze medalist
● Mi-Rae Kim/A. Rim Kim (PRK) ~ M-R Kim: 2017 Worlds silver medalist
Mixed 3 m Synchro:
● Tom Daley/Grace Reid (GBR) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalists
● Jennifer Abel/Francois Imbeau-Dulac (CAN) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalists
Mixed 10 m Synchro:
● Junjie Lian/Yajie Si (CHN) ~ Lian: 2017 World Champion
● Matty Lee/Lois Toulson (GBR) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalists
● Il-Myong Hyon/A. Rim Kim (PRK) ~ Hyon: 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
There are many other excellent divers entered, but the question is whether anyone can beat the Chinese.
Prize money in each event is $5,000-4,000-3,000 for each event ($120,000 for the meet). Look for results here.
● Artistic Swimming World Series in Paris
FINA’s Artistic Swimming World Series has been poorly attended by the top competitors, but the Paris stop has been one of the better attractions in the program. It’s the first of nine stops on this season’s tour, and the ninth French Open will be held from 1-3 March.
Some 23 national federations have entered, including powerhouses Spain and Ukraine.
Look for results here.
