December 20, 2021:  The Abu Dhabi Aquatic Festival showcased another first in the world of Aquatic sports this morning, as a pristine Yas Bay was the sight of the first-ever Mixed Team Diving event in an open water venue during the FINA Diving Team Exhibition.

The Mixed Team Diving event saw 10 competing teams representing Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States of America, perform three dives on the 3-meter springboard today. The female divers were on deck first, and Tokyo Olympic Gold medalist in the 3m synchro, Wang Han, scored 73.50 for her smooth and silky Back 2-1/2 Somersaults in the pike position, to put China in the first-round lead with Brazil following.

The second round saw the male team members performing, Brazilian Kawan Figueredo executed a solid dive that scored 68.25. With Figueredo’s efforts paired with teammate, Luana Lira’s 61.50, Brazil nudged ahead of China. Great Britain’s Matthew Dixon performed a fast-spinning Reverse 3-1/2 Somersaults in the tuck position for 75.25 points to bring Great Britain to second place.

The third and final round of the first day of the Mixed Team event featured a Mixed Synchro Dive. After two good individual dives, the Brazilian team continued their solid performance as Lira and Figueredo paired up to score 57.00, taking the first place ranking at the halfway point of the competition.

China’s Li Zheng and Wang Han scored 63.00, which compensated for Lian Junjie’s second round dive to end the day in second place. The best dive of this round was performed by USA’s Krysta Palmer and Benjamin Bramley. The duo scored 69.00 points for their Back 2-1/2 Somersaults Pike to move the USA from 9th to 4th heading into Day 2.

Tickets are still available for the FINA World Swimming Championships and are available across several categories including individual race heats (starting from AED 10), individual race finals (starting from AED 25) and exclusive packages for all races (starting from AED 150). Family packages are also available for two adults and two children under the age of sixteen, and start from AED 50, for individual races and AED 500 for all races.