HIGH DIVING: AFTER ITALY'S TEAM SUCCESS, ROME HOSTS THE FIRST EVER NATIONS CUP

The spectacle of high diving is not over yet. After yesterday's final day, with the victory of Romania's Constantin Popovici in the men's event, Germany's Iris Scmidbauer in the women's event, and Italy for the LEN Trophy, today 21 August from 14:00 , the same venue as the European championships at the Foro Italico will host the first ever Nations Cup: a world competition that was created in Rome to involve all the strongest athletes on the high diving circuit.

The invitational event, with free admission for the public and no booking required, will feature teams made up of two athletes of the same gender from the same nation, or mixed pairs consisting of a male and a female athlete. All competing pairs will perform one compulsory and one optional individual dive, from 27 metres for men and 20 metres for women, plus a synchronised dive together from the 20-metre platform. The dives will be judged by an international jury panel comprising five to seven competition officials. Expected in Rome for the competition are some of the stars of the world circuit such as the Mexicans Jonathan Paredes and Sergio Guzman, and the Colombian pair Miguel Garcia and Maria Paula Quintero. Among the European teams there are Constantin Popovici and Catalin-Petru Preda, the two Romanians who just finished first and second respectively in the men’s event who are considered the favourites. Alessandro De Rose, captain of the Italian national team and bronze medallist, will be paired with Andrea Barnaba, ninth in the European ranking, and also the event features the Frenchmen Gary Hunt and Robin Georges, respectively fourth and 16th in Europe. The mixed event will feature Germany’s European champion Iris Schmidbauer paired with USA’s James Lichtenstein, European runner-up Antonina Vishyvanova with Oreksin Prygorov, and women’s bronze medallist Elisa Cosetti (ITA) with Davide Baraldi (ITA).

The Nations Cup, whose final ranking is not part the Roma 2022 medal table, concludes the official programme of high diving and represents an extra opportunity for diving enthusiasts but also for people who want to get to know this discipline better to feel that thrill run down their spine during the dives into the water.