Speedos, abs, skill: Why gay fans love diving at World Aquatics Championships
The fit divers at the World Aquatics Championships make it easy to understand why gay men love watching the sport so much. The post Speedos, abs, skill: Why gay fans love diving at World Aquatics Championships appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
The World Aquatic Championships bring together the best swimmers and divers in the world. It’s no wonder why gay men love watching.
While the top swimmers have all turned away from the speedo, divers across the board all wear the small outfits. It doesn’t hurt that they are all athletic and in great shape.
This year’s World Aquatics Championships are being held in Singapore. The entire event spans several disciplines across almost four weeks. There’s both traditional swimming and open water, water polo, artistic swimming and — the favorite of many of the gays — diving.
Checking out some of the divers who are competing this week, it’s easy to understand why the sport attracts so many gay viewers.
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Jordan Rzepka, USA
American Jordan Rzepka, an American diver who competes for Purdue University, posted a pic from World Championships training camp at Stanford with some of his USA teammates, including Maxwell Flory and Collin Dyer.
Carson Tyler & Joshua Hedberg, USA
Two American men have already won a diving medal for Team USA.
Carson Tyler and Joshua Hedberg teamed up to take home the bronze medal in the 10-meter synchro competition. Tyler had previously won a bronze in the mixed synchro at the 2022 World Championships and competed in the Paris Olympics.
Tyler will compete individually for the United States in the 10-meter platform.
Timo Barthel, Germany
German diver Timo Barthel — who has avoided labeling his orientation but has been seen out and about with divers like Tyler Downs — didn’t get off to the best start at the Championships.
After the prelims, in which Barthel and 3-meter synchro partner Moritz Wesemann finished fourth, the Germany duo ended a disappointing eighth out of eight in the final.
“We trained hard, we had high hopes, and we gave it our all,” Barthel wrote on Instagram. “But this is part of professional sport. After 10 years, I walked away with a fail dive in a World Championships final. It’s a tough one to accept.”
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Barthel will compete in the 3-meter springboard individual competition.
Max Linan, Spain & Matteo Santoro, Italy
Two other out divers to compete so far are Spain diver Max Linan and Matteo Santoro of Italy, whom Outsports recently profiled as boyfriends. Linan also competed in the 3-meter synchro, finishing in 14th place of 26 teams in the prelims with synchro partner Juan Pablo Cortes Zapata.
Santoro has come out the big winner so far at these Championships, bringing the gold medal home for Italy in the mixed 3-meter synchro with partner Chiara Pellacani.
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Gay teen divers Max Linan and Matteo Santoro have been together a year and will compete at the World Aquatics Championships.
The two boyfriends will compete head-to-head in the 3-meter individual. Santoro will compete for the University of Miami next season.
Yet its the 10-meter platform that is generally regarded as the main event at the men’s diving championships.
Rikuto Tamai, Japan
Rikuto Tamai of Japan will see if he can best his silver medals at the Paris Olympics last year, and a silver at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest. He finished eighth in the 10-meter synchro event.
Cassiel Rousseau, Australia
Cassiel Rousseau of Australia didn’t make out quite as well in Paris, finishing just off the medal podium in fourth place. But he’s got a shot: The Aussie won the gold medal in the 10-meter platform at the 2023 World Championships a year before. He’s the grandson of a gold-medalist in cycling from the 1956 Olympics, so he’s gold in his lineage.
He’s already won a medal at these World Aquatics Championships, taking a silver medal in the 3-meter synchro with diving partner Keeney Maddison.
Rousseau came to the sport of diving relatively late after a pretty successful run on the world stage in acrobatic gymnastics.
Randal Willars, Mexico
Representing Mexico on the world stage, Randal Willars is looking to break out at these World Championships. He and his synchro partner finished one spot away from the finals in the prelims earlier this week. Now he’ll try for an individual medal.
Willars won gold in both the 10-meter synchro and 10-meter platform at the 2023 Pan American Games.
Oleksii Sereda and Mark Hyrtsenko, Ukraine
Representing Ukraine are two divers who’ve found success together. Oleksii Sereda and Mark Hyrtsenko won gold in the 10-meter synchro at this year’s European Diving Championships. At these World Championships the duo finished fifth. Now they will both head to the individual 10-meter platform.
Sereda won another European Division Championships gold medal this year in that event. He’ll try to best his bronze medal from last year’s World Championships.
Ahead of his participation in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics — where he finished in sixth place — Sereda was featured in Ukraine’s Vogue.
Sereda and Germany’s Barthel have said they have a “bromance” going on. We’re here for it.
Zilong Cheng and Zifeng Zhu, China
Zilong Cheng and Zifeng Zhu have already won gold at these World Championships, taking the 10-meter synchro gold by the slimmest of margins and coming back from behind to win by less than a point.
You can watch the World Aquatics Championships online, and select competitions will be shown on Peacock.
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The post Speedos, abs, skill: Why gay fans love diving at World Aquatics Championships appeared first on Outsports.
