2026 Junior Worlds Day Four: Hoffman, Dean Each Compete Two Events

Sophia Hoffman and Leyton Dean each competed in two events on Monday at the World Aquatics Junior Diving Championships in Rijeka, Croatia.

Hoffman advanced to the group A (16-18) girls 3-meter final and Dean dove in the boys synchronized platform event before the two divers competed in the mixed team event later in the day.

Hoffman and Dean joined Cristiano Garcia and Ella Guo in representing the United States in the mixed team event. The U.S. squad combined for 347.55 points to finish fifth. China took the spot with 414.55 points, with Mexico taking silver and Russia securing the bronze.

Individually, Hoffman placed eighth in the 3-meter final with 374.65 points. Divers from Russia took the top two spots on the podium, with gold going to Viktoria Kazantseva at 440.25 and silver to Nadezhda Trifonova at 409.95. Kseniia Bochek of Ukraine scored 409.70 for bronze. Marleigh daSilva also competed for the U.S. on 3-meter and placed 24th with 322.55 points.

Dean and Pengxu Lor placed eighth in boys synchronized platform after finishing with 274.20 points. Miroslav Kiselev and Kirill Kosimov of Russia scored 301.14 for first in a close contest in which just 2.43 points separated gold from bronze. Australians Hayden Brinckley and Archie Forsyth took silver at 299.76, and Great Britain’s Jorden Fisher Eames and Robbie Wood finished third with 298.71 points.

The World Aquatics Junior Diving Championships continue through Friday. Tuesday’s competition includes Evan Kerim and Mik Schwickert in the boys group A (16-18) 1-meter event and Kayla Jensen and Ava Jolley in girls synchronized 3-meter.