Brainerd High School graduate and former Minnesota Gopher Katy Etterman placed 11th in the fifth edition of the Fédération Internationale de Natation High Diving World Cup in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) Nov. 9-10.
This was Etterman's first World Cup event. She was one of three women selected to represent the USA. Her 11th-place finish means she will be invited to the next FINA High Diving World Cup.
Seventeen women qualified for the event and only 12 competed (due to injury) on the 20-meter platform. Twenty-five men competed on the 27-meter platform.
The sport of high diving continues to grow but there aren't proper facilities for training. After a long debate, it has been rejected to be included in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. There are expectations that it may be included in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Four of the athletes that competed at this event were former Olympians in either springboard or platform diving that have now made the transition to high diving.
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The world's first proper high diving training facility will soon open in Zhaoqing, China. It will include all traditional platform diving heights (5M, 7.5M, 10M) and 14M, 20M and 27M.
After the completion of four rounds in Abu Dhabi, the results were:
Top 3 Men: 1-Gary Hunt (GBR), 2-Constantin Popovici (ROU), 3-Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR)
Top 3 Women: 1-Rhiannan Iffland (AUS), 2-Lysanne Richard (CAN), 3-Ellie Smart (USA)
