Irina Lashko gave Australia its first world championship diving gold medal when she won the 1m springboard title at the world swimming championships.

The 30-year-old clinched victory on her final jump for a total of 299.97 points, with Germany's Conny Schmalfuss taking silver with 296.13, while the defending world champion Blythe Hartley of Canada had to settle for bronze.

"It's a first gold for Australia and I'm just really happy and very proud. It's my pleasure to do this for Australia, honestly," said the Russian-born diver who gained Australian citizenship four years ago.

It was bitter disappointment for 21-year-old Hartley who had led all the way until her final dive, which pushed her down to third with 291.33.

But she made a mistake and paid heavily for it.

"I've been really struggling with my last dive a bit in practice. It's not my strongest dive and I made a minor mistake and the judges noticed it and took off some marks," said the Calgary native.

And Lashko, the final diver of the competition, burst into tears as she emerged from the pool knowing that victory was hers.

"I really didn't expect it before the dive because I saw that I was in third," she admitted.

"I knew they had bigger dives than me, but it's diving so I was still able to come back.

"When I got out of the water and saw I was first it was like a shot of magic."

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