Cătălin Preda

Cătălin-Petru Preda (born 29 June 1991) is a Romanian diver and high diver. He was the first man to win a silver medal in a high diving event at a LEN European Aquatics Championships, winning the silver medal in the 27-metre high dive at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships. He formerly served as a judge on reality television show ''Splash! Vedete la Apă''.

Background

Preda started competitive diving when he was 7 years old, attended Coventry University in England for college, where he majored in journalism and media, and served as a judge on the reality television show ''Splash! Vedete la Apă'', where professional divers taught celebrities diving."Cătălin Preda, juratul emisiunii „Vedete la apă”, este student în Marea Britanie"
(in Romanian). ''tvmania.ro''. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2022.

Career

2019–2021

On 14 July, at the stop of the 2019 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series held in Beirut, Lebanon, Preda won the bronze medal with a score of 322.75 points, which was less than 50 points behind gold medalist Gary Hunt of Great Britain and less than 10 points behind silver medalist David Colturi of the United States."Podium pentru Cătălin Preda în etapa de la Beirut în Seria Mondială Red Bull Cliff Diving"
(in Romanian). ''fitnessmag.ro''. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2022. At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, held later in July in Gwangju, South Korea, he competed in the 27-metre high dive, scoring a total of 234.40 points to place fourteenth overall. FINA (24 July 2019)
"18th FINA World Championships Gwangju (KOR): Men's High Dive Round 3 Detailed Results"
''Omega Timing''. Retrieved 8 September 2022.

A little over two years later, in June 2021 and following a disrupted competition calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Preda achieved his first win at a Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series stop, winning the gold medal at the stop in Saint-Raphaël, France.Magill, Chris; Strobl, Katrin (12 June 2021)
"Wildcard Catalin Preda stuns cliff diving champ Gary Hunt to win in France"
''Red Bull''. Retrieved 8 September 2022. By the conclusion of the 2021 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, he had achieved an overall third-place standing across all stops of the World Series, earning his first assignment as a permanent diver in a Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series for the 2022 World Series.Magill, Chris (6 April 2022)
"Meet the Red Bull Cliff Diving athletes going for glory in 2022"
''Red Bull''. Retrieved 8 September 2022. In December the same year, he won the silver medal in the 27-metre high dive at the Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival, held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with a score of 433.55 points, finishing 3.35 points behind gold medalist Aidan Heslop of Great Britain and 1.55 points ahead of fellow Romanian and bronze medalist Constantin Popovici. FINA (20 December 2021)
"FINA High Diving Qualifier 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Men's High Dive Round 4 Detailed Results"
''Omega Timing''. Retrieved 8 September 2022."Cătălin Preda și Constantin Popovici, pe podium la Abu Dhabi"
(in Romanian). ''glasulcetatii.ro''. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2022.

2022

2022 World Series beginning

At the stop of the 2022 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series held in June in Paris, France, Preda won the gold medal with a score of 470.50 points.Mădălina, Nănuț (19 June 2022)
"Românii au luat cu asalt podiumul la etapa a doua a Red Bull Cliff Diving"
(in Romanian). ''007sport.ro''. Retrieved 8 September 2022. His score ranked as the highest ever achieved at a single Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series stop, setting a new record.CBS News (19 June 2022)
"Paris Hosts Second Stop Of 2022 Cliff Diving World Series"
''KWTV-DT''. Retrieved 8 September 2022. By the end of competition at the World Series stop held in August in Oslo, Norway, he had earned a total of 600 ranking points across the first four stops of the World Series circuit, ranking as the overall number one male competitor, 30 points ahead of second-ranked Gary Hunt and 84 points ahead of third-ranked Aidan Heslop.Herrán, Alfonso (14 August 2022)
"Hunt e Iffland triunfan en el 'thriller' de Oslo"
''Diario AS''. Retrieved 8 September 2022.

2022 European Aquatics Championships

For the 2022 European Aquatics Championships, held in August in Rome, Italy, event organizers added high diving to the program for the first time in the history of the LEN European Aquatics Championships, with men competing from a height of 27 metres."The sun rises on diving in Rome"
''British Swimming''. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022."Olympic medal-winning divers Punzel, Hentschel and Laugher win European golds"
''roma2022.eu''. 18 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022."Constantin Popovici şi Cătălin Preda au obţinut aur şi argint în proba de sărituri de la mare înălţime, la Europenele de la Roma"
(in Romanian). ''Digi Sport (Romania), Digi Sport''. 20 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022. At the end of the first round of competition on 18 August, he ranked first with a score of 82.60 points, 1.40 points ahead of Gary Hunt.LEN (18 August 2022)
"European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results After Dive 1 Men's High Diving"
''Microplus''. Retrieved 8 September 2022. The following day, he brought his total score up to 217.80, ranking first by 5.60 points at the end of the second round of competition.Ziglio, Andrea (19 August 2022)
"Tuffi grandi altezze, Europei 2022: il rumeno Preda comanda dopo due rotazioni, sesto De Rose"
(in Italian). ''OA Sport''. Retrieved 8 September 2022. On the third and final day, 20 August, he earned an additional 218.40 points over the third and fourth rounds of competition for a total score of 436.20 points, which was 19.50 points behind Constantin Popovici and 19.75 points ahead of Alessandro De Rose of Italy and earned him the first silver medal in a male high diving event at a LEN European Aquatics Championships.LEN (20 August 2022)
"European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results Men's High Diving Final"
''Microplus''. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
(in Romanian). ''Gazeta Sporturilor''. 20 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022."Vizes Eb, műugrás: román dupla férfi óriás-toronyugrásban"
(in Hungarian). ''Nemzeti Sport''. 20 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.

2022 World Series conclusion

Following his performances at the European Championships, Preda continued on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series circuit at the stop held on 27 August in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he retained his overall first-rank amongst male competitors across all stops of the circuit with a score of 760 points and his record of 470.50 points from the Paris stop of the circuit was broken by Constantin Popovici who scored 481.50 points."Record du Romain Constantin Popovici en plongeon extrême à Mostar, Gary Hunt 4e"
(in French). ''L'Équipe''. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022. On 11 September, at the World Series stop in Sisikon, Switzerland, he placed fourth and retained his overall first-rank."Así se consigue una grabación perfecta en la locura de saltar desde acantilados"
(in Spanish). ''Marca (newspaper), Marca''. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022. One week later, on 18 September at the World Series stop in Polignano a Mare, Italy, he won the bronze medal with a score of 427.20 points, increased his overall score to 1000 points, and dropped in rankings to third overall."Il Mare Increspato E Le Raffiche Di Vento Non Fermano Lo Spettacolo Pugliese Della Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series"
(in Italian). ''Il Nautilus''. 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022. In October, at the World Series stop contested in Sydney, he won the bronze medal."Diver Iffland soars to success over Sydney"
''Port Lincoln Times''. 15 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.

International championships

Awards and honours

* LEN, High Diver of the Year (men's), nominee: 2022Hațieganu, Alexandru (2 February 2023)
"România e mare! David Popovici, Cătălin Preda și Constantin Popovici au fost nominalizați de LEN într-o luptă selectă"
(in Romanian). ''sport.ro''. Retrieved 20 February 2023.Marica, Irina (3 February 2023)
"2022 LEN Awards: Romania's David Popovici, Constantin Popovici and Cătălin Preda among nominees"
''Romania Insider''. Retrieved 20 February 2023.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preda, Cătălin
1991 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Bucharest
Male high divers
Romanian male divers