Jessica Macaulay finished third and Molly Carlson was sixth in the final round of the Mostar stop on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series on Saturday in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Macaulay entered the final round in the third position with a combined score of 237.20 and scored 87.75 on her last dive to finish with a score of 324.95. The 28-year-old finished third behind Rhiannan Iffland of Australia and Adriana Jimenez of Mexico.
“I felt really great overall with the three days,” Macaulay said. “I am really proud of myself with the outcome. I know I have a lot to improve on with my dives, and just really grateful that I was able to make the podium.
“I loved my back triple. I think that I nailed it, and I’m really excited to consistently nail it throughout the season. I’m looking forward to improving on my other dives and working to increase my scores throughout the season.”
Carlson entered the final round in fourth with a cumulative score of 232.90. She scored 59.45 on her last dive and finished with a score of 292.35.
The event was a challenging one for the 22-year-old for several reasons. Carlson, like other divers, had to deal with the rain and inclement weather at Mostar. Then the Thunder Bay, ON native became ill following the first round.
“I felt amazing on the first day when I got here. I had a very successful first day of the competition. Put my dives down for some 9.5 scores, which felt great. That night, I got really sick. I couldn’t sleep through the night. I think I swallowed too much river water, so it made it very difficult to find some energy on the second day,” Carlson said. “I managed to dive and pull out some 7.5 scores when it really mattered. So, the second day went ok, but still very low energy.
“The final day, I finished with a brand-new dive, my front quad; I actually did it for 8.5 in practice and then was just a little bit too confident, a little too high, and finished a little bit short. Overall, I’m very happy. It was my first time competing from a bridge so I cannot be upset with that performance.”
The stop in Bosnia and Herzegovina was just the second event on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series circuit for Carlson. Back in June, she finished second behind Iffland in Saint Raphaël, France—that podium finish earned her invites to future events on the tour.
She called this week’s event a learning experience.
“I know in my heart that my dives can be much better, but the way this week went was very challenging with a new environment,” Carlson said. “I always train indoors with perfect conditions, so having rain, wind, not knowing if we’re going to dive or not made it quite challenging. Also got sick in the middle, but yeah, I think it was a very strong learning experience being surrounded by amazing girls, made it a lot easier.”
For Macaulay, the Mostar stop was her 14th career event on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series circuit. The native of Great Yarmouth in the United Kingdom holds dual citizenship and began diving for Canada at the Saint Raphaël stop where she finished third.
“I need to work on my consistency, with my required and intermediate dives—they were pretty average and I know I have room to improve on those and I look forward to working on those throughout the time between competitions and increasing my scores on those next competition,” said Macaulay.
“Overall, I just had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed being out here. Diving in the rain was really cool. It’s an experience that I haven’t really had in the past, at least not as crazy as it was this time. Super happy with the outcome and looking forward to the next competition.”
About Diving Plongeon Canada
Diving 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 world’s 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 in the world. For information, visit www.diving.ca.
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For more information:
Jeff Feeney
Director, Events and Communications
Diving Plongeon Canada
C: 613-668-9668 | jeff@diving.ca