European men’s diver of the year Jack Laugher has backed the new-look 2023 Diving World Cup which will feature three stops and culminating with a Super Final in Berlin.
The competition, previously known as the Diving World Series, has been rebranded for 2023 as the World Aquatics Diving World Cup.
It will begin in Xi’an, China, (14-16 April), before heading to Montreal, Canada (5-7 May) and finishing in Berlin with three days of competition from 4-6 August.
“The future of our sport is bright,” said Laugher, who is part of the World Aquatics Athletes’ Committee. “I’m excited about the upcoming changes we’ll see in diving.”
“I really felt the mojo with the Diving Working Group and where we are setting up the sport for the next years heading into the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka and the Paris 2024 Games.”
The German capital hosted last season’s standalone Diving World Cup in October 2022 and has a long history of hosting World Aquatics events, having held 20 consecutive editions of the Diving Grand Prix circuit between 2001 and 2020.
With a new diving event competition system approved by the World Aquatics Bureau and in place for 2023 and 2024, the top-tier international diving series follows a new, simpler event format.
The World Cups will have three stops each year and will be devised to better suit the annual diving calendar consisting of the ‘Majors’ – the Olympic Games and the World Aquatics Championships – as well as the national, regional and continental championship events.
Among the competition format changes will be removal of semi-finals with a preliminary-final model utilised for individual events, with synchronised and team competitions run as straight finals.
“With the World Aquatics Diving Working Group, we took a holistic approach to review our sport for the maximum benefit to athletes, fans and event hosts alike,” said Great Britain coach Jane Figueirdo.
“We came into the project with a spirit of innovation and immersed ourselves in the work. I am sure the outcome will be well received by the divers and the greater sports community. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our sport.”
Results from the first two World Aquatics Diving World Cup 2023 events will qualify divers for the third and final stop, the Super Final. This event will feature the top 18 athletes in individual events and the top 8 in the synchronised and team events.
For the first two stages, athletes will earn prize money (5’000, 4’000, 3’000 USD) for podium finishes. The World Aquatics Diving World Cup Super Final will pay prize money from the 1st to 12th places in the individual events and from the 1st to 8th for the synchronised and team events.
Athletes ranking first will receive $25,000 and second $20,000 working down to 12th position who will take home $2000.
“From the refinement of the competition format to having a deeper prize pool, we’re making this sport even more attractive for athletes,” continued Laugher.
“This gives me, my peers, and future generations more to aim for and achieve in this beautiful sport.”
World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam was also delighted with the changes, stating it was “another incredibly exciting milestone for the sport.”
“By creating a World Aquatics Diving World Cup that’s open to more athletes and countries, deepening the prize pool at our top annual event series, and making it easier for organisers to hold World Aquatics events, we’ve put in place the platform for diving to reach new heights in the years to come,” he stated.
