Montréal, May 5 2023 – It only took one competition for dynamic duo Pamela Ware and Mia Vallée to score an international podium! The two Canadians won the bronze in the 10m synchro event on Friday, kicking off the Montréal World Cup in style.
Sixth after the first round, Ware and Vallée showed grit and determination. They never gave up, and as a result, came back to finish on the third spot on the podium in front of the hometown crowd gathered at Olympic Park.
“I was so happy! I can’t describe the feeling, I felt it so deep! I’m really happy,” sighed Pamela Ware, sporting a medal around her neck. “It feels good to have Mia next to me. She’s done so well in the last year, she has so much confidence and that helped me feel confident too.”
The Canadian duo was fourth heading into their final dive, and needed 72.07 points to edge out the Australians and secure a medal. A score of 72.90 brought their total to 302.61 points.
“I almost cried! After the last dive, I was looking at Mia and I couldn’t stop shaking,” said Ware.
Vallée added: “We’re comfortable together and we’re learning from each other. There’s a lot of things we do that push me personally to get better at diving. You have to have confidence in yourself, but having confidence in each other is incredibly important as well. This medal shows that we have that confidence.”
World champions Chen Yiwen and Chang Yani (China) won with 329.43 points, finishing ahead of Americans Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook (315.09 points).
Earlier, on the men’s diving platform, Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens competed in the men’s 10m synchronized event.
After taking second place provisionally on their first dive, the Canadians – bronze medallists in this event at the last World Championships – made some mistakes in subsequent attempts. They finished in seventh place with 360.99 points.
“Today was just not our day. We haven’t had much practice this week because Rylan hurt his neck, but we have no excuse; we know how to do our dives right,” said a crestfallen Zsombor-Murray.
“Well, you can’t win all the time! It’s going to push us to work harder in synchro, we can’t wait to get it right next time,” continued teammate Wiens.
Defending World Champions Yang Hao and Lian Junjie (China) stayed ahead from start to finish to win gold. With a total of 456.72 points, the Chinese duo edged out Ukraine’s Kirill Boliukh and Oleksil Sereda (412.74) and Britain’s Noah Williams and Matthew Lee (403.98).
Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens will both be back in action this weekend in the individual 10m event.
Caeli McKay: ready for the upcoming final
Also in action on Friday, Caeli McKay fueled herself with loud cheers from the crowd, and set a personal best on the international stage, placing third in the 10m individual preliminaries with 370.35 points.
“This is a great result for me! I didn’t feel as good as I hoped to, but I was able to get a good score anyway. I’m very happy, and I feel confident going into the final,” commented McKay.
“It’s comforting to dive at home, but also very stressful, because there’s a lot of people and more pressure! Definitely, the energy is incredible”, added Kate Miller, who’ll also be in the 10m synchro on Saturday.
Also diving in individual qualifying rounds, Celina Toth finished 11th with 280.10 points and will accompany teammate McKay into the final. Renee Batalla – Team Canada’s youngest diver in Montréal – finished 17th with 212.00 points.
Bryden Hattie placed eighth in the men’s 3m individual qualifying event, with the 393.90 points he earned scoring him a spot in Sunday’s final.
Can’t wait for more diving action? The Montréal World Cup will resume on Saturday with the preliminary rounds of the women’s 3m and men’s 10m. Then stayed tuned for the women’s 10m synchronized and the men’s 3m synchronized events. A weekend of great diving awaits!
More information :
Alexandra Piché
Manager, Communications
Diving Canada
C: 514 625-5513
alexandra@diving.ca