Oleksii Sereda Finishes Without a Medal in the 10m Individual World Cup Diving Event, Mark Hrytsenko Finishes 9th
Team Ukraine's diving squad has wrapped up its events at the 2025 season's first World Cup stage.
The final event in Guadalajara, Mexico, was the individual 10m platform final. Among the 12 athletes competing were two Ukrainians — four-time World Championship medalist Oleksii Sereda and reigning junior world champion Mark Hrytsenko, the final's youngest competitor.
The 'yellow-and-blues'' rivals, in turn, included Mexico's Randal Willars Valdez, champion of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, China's Zhu Zifeng and Cheng Zilong, the stage's leaders in synchronized diving, 'neutral' athletes Nikita Shleikher and Ruslan Ternovoi, and others.
Earlier in Mexico, Sereda and Hrytsenko finished fifth in the 10m synchronized platform event. The individual competition program at the same height consisted of six dives of varying difficulty — by its end, Sereda and Hrytsenko finished fourth and ninth, respectively.
How the Fight for Medals in the 10m Platform Individual Event Unfolded in Guadalajara
- After the first dive, with a 3.2 degree of difficulty, Oleksii and Mark were in second and eighth place, respectively. The second dive — the most difficult in both Ukrainians' programs (3.7) — moved Mark up to seventh place, but dropped Oleksii to third.
- Sereda's most successful dive turned out to be his third — 91.80 points — while his fourth, by contrast, proved unsuccessful — 46.80 points, which knocked the Ukrainian out of the top 3. Hrytsenko, meanwhile, consistently scored 6.5-7.0 from judges for his execution. His best dive was his fifth — 75.60 points.
- The decisive moment in the final came on the last, sixth dive, which Sereda and Hrytsenko performed cleanly, though their rivals didn't make mistakes either. As a result, with a total of 451.90 points, Oleksii finished 12.10 points behind bronze medalist Cheng Zilong of China. Hrytsenko, meanwhile, finished his final with 409.45 points — ninth place.
Diving World Cup. 10m Platform. Men
- Randal Willars Valdez (Mexico) - 547.70 points
- Zhu Zifeng (China) - 468.65
- Cheng Zilong (China) - 463.80
- Oleksii Sereda (Ukraine) - 451.90
...
9. Mark Hrytsenko (Ukraine) - 409.45
As a result, Team Ukraine didn't win a single medal at the season's first Diving World Cup stage. The national team's next competition will be held April 10-13 in Windsor, Canada.
For Oleksii Sereda, the Guadalajara stage also extended his medal drought at the World Cup level. The athlete last won a World Cup medal back in August 2023, in Germany, and skipped the 2024 season due to injury, rehabilitation, and preparation for the 2024 Olympics.
Oleksii Sereda: The Full DeTalks Interview
Watch DeTalks' full interview with Oleksii Sereda ahead of the 2024 Olympics on the project's YouTube channel at this link.