OTTAWA, December 16, 2021 High divers Molly Carlson, Aimee Harrison and Jessica Macaulay will be representing Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) at the 2021 FINA High Diving Qualifier, which will run December 19-20th 2021 in the United Arab Emirates. As part of the Abu Dhabi Aquatics festival, the FINA High Diving event will serve as the final qualifying event for the 19th FINA World Championships, scheduled to take place in Fukuoka (JPN) in May 2022.
This will be Jessica Macaulays first FINA event under the Canadian flag, as she previously represented Great-Britain at the 2019 World Championships, where she won a bronze medal, in addition to the 2019 and 2018 World Cups. In 2021, Macaulay moved to Montreal to train full-time at the Canadian Diving Institute in Montreal. The reason why I made the decision is because of what the Canadian federation could offer for my diving career. Ive never had a facility with a 20m platform, with a coach from my federation that created a program for my specific needs in order for me to peak at the perfect time for each competition. So, it was basically the energy theyre putting into my career that made me want to switch, she said in an interview with Red Bull.
The 29-year-old has had an astonishing first season with the Canadian high diving team on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in 2021, earning four podium finishes and 2nd place overall. She made her first appearance on the circuit in 2018 and won several titles over the years.
As for Aimee Harrison who started high diving in 2017 after competing for the Canadian national team on the 3m springboard, the FINA High Diving Qualifier will be her third appearance at an international FINA event. She previously competed at the 2019 World Cup and qualified for the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, where she finished 13th. That year, she also made her Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series debut in Polignano a Mare, where she placed 7th. She made her return on the circuit this past September to dive from the 21m platform in Puglia, Italy, and earned a 9th place finish.
The team will be completed by Molly Carlson, a 2014 Youth Olympian who also competed for the Canadian diving team in her junior years. She began her transition to high diving in 2020 and made her international debut on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series circuit in 2021 as a wildcard. The 23-year-old won an impressive total of four medals, ranking third overall and earning a permanent spot on the 2022 circuit. The event in Abu Dhabi will be her first FINA competition.
This will be Canadas largest delegation at a FINA high diving event, having previously been represented by Lysanne Richard or Aimee Harrison. The team will be coached by Stephane Lapointe and Canadian official Oliver Morneau-Ricard will also act as a high diving judge.
About Diving Plongeon CanadaDiving Plongeon Canada (DPC) was established in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the growth and awareness of the sport in this country. As a member of FINA, the worlds governing body of aquatic sports, DPC contributes to the development of globally accepted standards of excellence in diving and supports the rules and regulations of international competition. Representing nine provincial diving associations, 67 local diving clubs and close to 4,000 high-performance athletes, DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation of the world. For information, visit diving.ca.
For more information:
Maelle Dancause
Manager, Communications
Diving Plongeon Canada
514-475-4540 | maelle@diving.ca