BARCELONA, Spain — Americans Cesilie Carlton and Ginger Huber finished 1-2 in the inaugural high diving competition at the swimming world championships Tuesday.
Plunging from 20 metres — the equivalent of a seven-story building — off a temporary platform into Barcelona’s harbour, Carlton impressed the judges with her final dive, a triple half pike, and move up from third after the second of three rounds.
Carlton won gold with a total of 211.60 points, Huber had 206.70 and Anna Bader of Germany took bronze with 203.90.
Stephanie De Lima of Montreal placed fourth at 182.55.
"My last two dives were probably the best two I’ve ever done in my life," said De Lima, 25, who has been high diving for seven years. "It was a magical experience for me with the crowd and the opportunity to compete in front of my parents."
Only six women competed.
The men’s competition, off 27 metres, concludes Wednesday.
The 32-year-old Carlton works in the Chinese gambling city Macau as a performer in a show called City of Dreams in the House of Dancing Water. She’s from San Antonio, Texas.