Team Canada earns medals at World Juniors
Junior World Championships
Montréal, August 25, 2026 – After winning a silver medal in the 1-meter Springboard event Sunday, Lila Stewart added another medal to her collection Tuesday. The Saskatchewan-based diver and her Québecois teammate Mackenzie-Mai Van Houtte-Cachero took third place in the 3-meter Synchronized event (ages 14–18) at the World Junior Championships in Rijeka, Croatia.
Later that day, Arnaud Corbeil also contributed to Team Canada’s medal haul by snapping up third place in the 1-meter Springboard final for the 16–18 age group, while Samuel McCaffrey finished fifth.
Diving together in competition for the very first time in competition, Stewart and Van Houtte-Cachero showed no nerves, setting the pace from the start of the event and temporarily holding first place in the standings after two rounds.
However, their third dive dropped them to fifth place. Yet, that didn’t faze Stewart and Van Houtte-Cachero, as they rallied to finish the competition in style, climbing back up to third place with a total score of 256.92 points.
“I had so much fun during the event today! It’s a great way to wrap up my week at the Junior World Championships. We really gave it our all to win that medal. Mackenzie and I have been pushing each other all week, both in the individual events and in synchro. That really helped us prepare for today,” remarked Stewart.
For her part, Van Houtte-Cachero added, “We really had fun during the competition; we laughed between dives and always gave it our all. It’s incredible to end the day with a bronze medal from the World Championships. We’re really proud of our performance.”
Mexican twins Mia Zazil and Lia Yatzil Cueva Lobato claimed the gold medal in the synchro with a final score of 283.02. Russia’s duo of Viktoria Kazantseva and Nadezhda Trifonova finished second (258.63).
Stewart also noted that the medal she won on the 1-meter springboard this week gave her a huge confidence boost heading into this synchronized competition. “It broke the ice for me, and I think I was able to maintain that same energy all week to make it back onto the podium in synchro,” explained the diver from Regina.
Interestingly, Van Houtte-Cachero had a week that was the polar opposite of her teammate’s. The Québec diver slipped on the springboard during Sunday’s warm-up. Despite her painful injury, she still competed. As a result, her medal on Tuesday is even more meaningful.
“I injured my foot and even had trouble walking right after on Sunday. I wanted to push my limits. The World Junior Championships don’t happen every day in a career. I took every precaution these past few days so I could dive again, and everything worked out well,” said the Montréaler.
The question on everyone’s lips? After this medal win, will the newly forged duo dive together again in various international competitions? They both hope so!
“We only trained together for two or three weeks before the World Championships. I’d really love to be able to dive with her again. She’s an incredible athlete and person. I hope there’s a future for the two of us in synchro,” Stewart said.
“Lila is a really great partner; she always has the right words at the right time, which is pretty important in synchro. I love her from the bottom of my heart. I think we complement each other really well, too, so we could achieve great things together,” added Van Houtte-Cachero.
In junior men’s diving action, Québec’s Arnaud Corbeil showed remarkable consistency on the 1-meter springboard. After placing fourth in the morning qualifiers, the Terrebonne resident kicked off the final with a dive that earned a score of 72.85. He finished the session with a total of 495.05 points and the bronze medal.
“It’s always good to start with a solid dive; it gives you momentum for the rest of the final. I didn’t qualify for the 3-meter final earlier this week, so I really wanted to bounce back and have a good day in the 1-meter event. I think I can say mission accomplished—it’s a great way to end the week,” noted Corbeil.
Also from Québec, Samuel McCaffrey had a slightly more difficult start to the finals after finishing second in the qualifying round. However, he was able to turn things around on his last three springboard dives, to finish in fifth place with 445.50 points.
Russia’s Matvei Pomoshnikov (520.65) was crowned Junior World Champion; Germany’s Finn Awe finished second, 11.20 points behind Pomoshnikov.
