Molly Carlson is second after two dives at the 2021 FINA High Diving Qualifier
Molly Carlson is second while Jessica Macaulay is in sixth, and Aimee Harrison is 15th following the preliminary round of the FINA High Diving event in Abu Dhabi. The FINA High Diving event is the final qualifying opportunity for the 19th FINA World Championships, scheduled for Fukuoka, Japan, in May 2022.
Carlson is second behind only Australia’s Rhiannan Iffland. The Thunder Bay, ON native, finished Sunday’s round with a cumulative score of 160.80 – 29.80 points behind Iffland.
“I’m super happy. As my first FINA competition, there were some extra nerves going into this,” Carlson said. “As soon as I stood on that platform, I kind of set it all aside and right before I was told by my coach Mitch Geller, ‘You’re one of the few that actually enjoy jumping off this platform, so go out there and have fun and I loved every second of it.”
The 23-year-old scored 62.40 on her first dive and followed it up with a score of 98.40 on her second dive.
“I think I was super powerful on both of them. I had an inward-double-half to start, and I was just a little bit over on the finish, but overall starting with some scores of eight was solid,” Carlson explained. “Then heading into my front quad, it’s the biggest dive in my entire list, and I actually saw a fish jump right before I went, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, here we go.’
“I just remembered my keywords and was super powerful, super tight, and just left it just a tiny bit short but really happy with the overall result.”
Photo via FINA, credits: Francois Nel
Macaulay, who finished third at the 18th FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, is prequalified for the 2022 World Championship.
The 29-year-old finished Sunday’s preliminary round with a combined score of 141.05.
“The preliminary round wasn’t my best round,” Macaulay said. “I got pretty low scores on my dives. After my first dive, I wasn’t really too upset because I tend to keep a cool head and go into my next dive like it’s a new dive. It didn’t really affect me all that much.”
Macaulay, a native of Great Yarmouth, U.K., holds dual citizenship and has represented Canada since January.
She scored 45.50 on her first dive and finished with 95.55 on her second dive.
“The first dive was a flying front. I really liked the takeoff and the top, I just didn’t get a good entry, I wasn’t completely straight on the landing, and it was a bit splashy,” said Macaulay. “The second dive, I did my reverse triple, and I was really happy with my result, probably one of the best reverse triples that I’ve done.
“The scores were good, and the scores are keeping me competitive going into tomorrow, so I was really happy that I came back with a strong dive.”
Harrison has a cumulative score of 127.10. The 27-year-old Winnipeg, MB native, scored 66.30 on her first dive and 60.80 on her second dive.