June 19, 2023 – It was an emotional weekend for the Canadian team at the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Paris, France. Molly Carlson took second place for the second time this season. Jessica Macaulay, who narrowly missed the podium in Paris, announced her retirement as a permanent Red Bull diver at the end of the 2023 campaign. Simone Leathead experienced her first-ever high diving competition in open water.
While diving in front of the iconic Eiffel Tower, Molly Carlson (CAMO) scored a total of 340.3 points for her four dives and took second place in the competition. She was edged out by Australia’s Rhiannan Iffland, who topped the podium with a score of 351.7.
Germany’s Iris Schmidbauer (316.8) came third, just ahead of Canada’s Jessica Macaulay (CAMO). The latter was just one point away from a place on the podium.
Red Bull Cliff Diving rookie Simone Leathead (CAMO) managed to impressively finish in sixth place with 285.6 points. The 20-year-old learned only a week in advance that she would be flying to Paris for her debut on the Red Bull Cliff Diving circuit.
On the podium despite some difficulties
Molly Carlson snuck into second place, but she wasn’t fully satisfied with her last two dives, the optionals.
“What an incredible competition for Team Montreal! The vibe was just incredible and I’m so proud to be part of this team. Personally, I missed my optionals, my last two dives. I’m really proud of the work we did on my first two dives. To get 9s and above is really exciting for the competitions to come,” said Molly Carlson, 24.
“Even though I’m a bit disappointed with my last two dives, to miss them and still be on the podium, it’s really encouraging,” added Carlson, in her second year as a Red Bull permanent diver.
Her favorite part of the weekend was definitely introducing her young teammate Simone Leathead to the Red Bull circuit.
“Being with the team and cheering for Simone, having her with me on this new adventure, was really inspiring! You can jump from 20 meters many, many times, but it’s the people who are new to the sport who remind you how much you love it,” she said.
Getting out of your comfort zone
Simone Leathead made no secret of the fact that she was stressed when she found out she’d be flying to Paris to take part in the French stopover at the Red Bull Cliff Diving event. Despite this, the 20-year-old managed to put on a brave face.
“As soon as I did my four dives in training on Friday, I really felt better. It’s so different from a normal diving competition that I didn’t really know what to expect. I really enjoyed it and I’m ready for more. It takes me out of my comfort zone and I’m completely open to it,” she says.
New features included diving into a natural river for the first time.
“Sure it’s different, but I’ve always enjoyed diving outside, even in regular diving. It didn’t add any stress. It was just different. The view is incredible from the 20 m platform, so I couldn’t really complain,” added Leathead with a laugh.
Her first two dives didn’t live up to her expectations, as she wanted to prove that she belonged in the big leagues.
“She was nervous for her first two dives, but she just came back so strong in the two optional ones. Her last dive was incredible! I’m really proud of her!” commented her coach, Stéphane Lapointe.
“I was happy to be able to prove to everyone that I belong here. I’m pretty satisfied. Even if the beginning was a bit rocky, the end lived up to my expectations,” concluded Simone Leathead.
Jessica Macaulay announces her retirement
Jessica Macaulay made her decision official in front of the other divers on the circuit: this season will be her last one. She will retire as a permanent Red Bull circuit diver at the end of 2023.
She spoke during the lucky draw, the day before the event began, to share the news publicly. Why on the second stop of the season?
“It was really nice to be able to share this with the people who are really close to me. It makes being at the top of that platform even more rewarding, because I know it’s among the last times I’ll ever do it. Now the rest of the community also knows that I’m retiring, so it allows me to share that feeling with them,” she explained.
Macaulay was just one point away from a place on the podium. She was a little disappointed with her performance.
“Even though I’m going to retire, I still want to be competitive and give everything I’m capable of at every competition. This weekend, my dives weren’t the best, so I was a bit frustrated. I took the time to calm down. Now that the competitions are numbered, I’ve got to make the most of them”, said the 30-year-old athlete.
In addition to counting three of his female athletes among the top six in Paris, Stéphane Lapointe also saw two of his male athletes share the podium. Oleksiy Prygorov and Nikita Fedotov, second and third respectively in the men’s category, train in Montreal with the CAMO Diving Club.
They both lived in the Ukraine and found refuge in Canada when the war started so that they could continue training.
“This was Oleksiy’s first podium finish at the Red Bull World Series. It was really touching to see him achieve this feat, especially after everything he’s been through. The Canadian team was happy to be able to share it with them,” said Stéphane Lapointe.
On July 2, the high-flying divers will head for Italy to jump from the Polignano a Mare platform. They will then fly to Fukuoka, Japan, to take part in the World Championships.
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. 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 www.diving.ca.
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Information:
Alexandra Piché
Communication manager
(514) 625-5513
alexandra@diving.ca