Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Canada’s Samuel McCaffrey and Kash Tarasoff surprised the field by winning the boys’ 3m synchronized diving event (age 14-18) at the 2026 Junior World Championships in Rijeka, Croatia. The pair defeated Russian favorites Ivan Sautin and Matvei Pomoshnikov by 9.36 points, despite having trained together only four times prior to the competition. Germany’s William Ackmann and Finn Awe took bronze.
The boys’ event was interrupted by heavy rain in the penultimate round, forcing the last three pairs, including Ukraine’s Valerii Malieiev and Dmytro Stepanov (then in third), to wait. After resumption, the Ukrainian pair remained third after round four but scored zero on their final dive, finishing 12th overall.
In the girls’ 1m final for ages 14-15, Mexico’s Mia Cueva Lobato edged her twin sister Lia Cueva Lobato by just 0.05 points for gold. China’s Chen Xiangling won bronze.
The mixed team event scheduled for Friday was postponed due to a thunderstorm. McCaffrey commented that he and Tarasoff used the weather to their advantage. Tarasoff noted their limited training and surprise at reaching the podium. Silver medallist Sautin—son of eight-time Olympic medallist Dmitry Sautin—commented on prior open-pool training, but the source cuts off before further details.