U.S. Women Pick Up a Pair of Top-Five Finishes at Diving World Cup in Montreal
ElliReese Niday
The U.S. women had a pair of top-five finishes to lead Team USA at a World Aquatics Diving World Cup meet in Montreal from February 26-March 1.
ElliReese Niday placed fifth in the individual women’s 10-meter final, and Anna Kwong and Sophie Verzyl finished fourth in synchronized 3-meter. Jack Ryan advanced to the men’s individual 3-meter final and finished 12th to lead the U.S. men.
Niday placed fifth on 10-meter in her World Cup debut, scoring 320.70 points in Sunday’s final. The 14-year-old Niday won her first senior national titles last year but was not old enough to compete at the World Aquatics Championships in 2025. In Sunday’s World Cup final, Niday scored 62.40 points or higher on four of her five dives – including 72.50 on her back 2 ½ pike. China took the top two spots, with Jiang Linjing scored 428.10 points for gold and Cui Jiaxi finishing second with 370.40. Jo Jin Mi of the People’s Republic of Korea took bronze at 369.30.
In women’s 3-meter synchro, Kwong and Verzyl scored 294.51 points, including 73.44 points on their final dive – a forward 2 ½ with two twists. They finished just 7.65 points behind bronze medalists Mia Cueva and Lia Cueva of Mexico. China’s Chen Jia and Chen Yiwen scored 329.94 points for gold, with the Australian team of Maddison Keeney and Alysha Koloi taking silver at 303.42.
Kwong also competed in the individual 3-meter contest and scored 264.30 points for 19th place in the preliminaries. Kyndal Knight finished 17th with 270.50 points.
Ryan advanced to the men’s 3-meter final after placing fifth in Friday’s preliminary. In Sunday’s final, he finished with 381.85 points, including 72 points on an inward 2 ½ pike and 76 points on a forward 4 ½ tuck, for 12th place. China took gold and silver, with Wang Zongyuan winning with 540.35 points and Zheng Jiuyaun scoring 495.15 for second. Colombia’s Luis Uribe picked up bronze at 486.30.
Ryan also paired with Quinn Henninger to place ninth in men’s synchronized 3-meter with 376.56 points.
Verzyl and Ryan also were part of the mixed 3-meter and 10-meter event team that finished sixth with 404.85 points. Carson Tyler and Sophie McAfee also competed for the U.S. in the team event, which was won by China.
McAfee also competed individually in women’s 10-meter and finished 16th with 274.40 points in the preliminary.
Tyler also paired up with Jordan Rzepka in the men’s synchronized 10-meter contest, but the dup withdrew before the sixth round due to an injury in round five. The U.S. team was in seventh place heading into the fifth round.
In individual men’s 10-meter competition, Rzepka placed 18th with 379.25 points in the prelim, with Kylie Flory scoring 342.75 for 23rd place.
Katerina Hoffman and Bailee Sturgill scored 257.55 points for ninth in women’s synchronized 10-meter, and Max Flory finished 28th with 333.55 points in the men’s 3-meter preliminary.
Results from the Montreal stop on the World Cup Series will be used to determine invitations to the World Cup Super Final. Super Final qualification was to have been based on results across two World Cup stops, but World Aquatics made the decision to cancel stop two, which would have been held in Zapopan, Mexico. The Super Final is set for May 1-3 in Beijing.
