Canada’s Ware places fourth at FINA Diving Cup
Posted February 24, 2012 8:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Jennifer Lukas
CTVOlympics.ca
LONDON, England — Canada’s Pamela Ware surprised herself — and very nearly the field — in her first major international diving competition on Friday.
Competing in the women’s individual 3-metre springboard event, the 18-year old from Ottenburn Park, Que., finished fourth at the FINA Diving World Cup against a field of the world’s top divers.
“It’s my first time at a big competition like this,” Ware said, “My first international competition. I’ve been to Grand Prix, but nothing like this. I walked in here, I already felt nervous.”
The competition is being held in the Aquatics Centre in London’s Olympic Park, the main competition site for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The World Cup is also serving as an official test event ahead of the Games.
Once on the board, Ware was able to get the a handle on her nerves, although she admitted she felt breathless and tense throughout the competition.
She posted three personal-best scores in succession, scoring 313.95 in the preliminary round on Thursday, 327.60 in Friday’s semi, and a whopping 341.25 in the final on Friday evening. Ware finished 4.45 points out of the bronze medal position, which went to Tania Cagnotto of Italy.
“Five [good] dives in a row, which I did three times, never happens,” said Ware. “I’m really happy. I don’t think I could have asked for anything better.”
Three-time Olympic medallist Émilie Heymans, of St-Lambert, Que., finished 10th in the event with 307.35. China’s Wu Minxia and He Zi finished one-two in a World Cup that has been dominated by the Chinese all week.
China has won gold in every event so far, with only the men’s 10m platform and women’s synchronized 3m springboard finals remaining. So far the 2008 Olympic host nation has collected six gold medals and three silver.
“At their best, they are incredible,” Canadian coach Aaron Dziver said of the Chinese team. “And you have to be at your best to equal them. But it’s possible. There are some divers in the world who are able to perform the types of dives that they are doing.”
Matthew Mitcham, of Australia, is one such diver. The reigning Olympic 10m champion was the only non-Chinese diver to win gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Mitcham, who returned to competition earlier this month following injuries to his spine and abdominal muscles, finished fourth in the preliminary 10m Friday morning to advance to Saturday’s final.
“I was expecting to come maybe 15th or something, so to come fourth in the prelims after those expectations was a massive surprise to me,” Mitcham said.
Asked if he would be able to pull off another Chinese upset this week in London, Mitcham downplayed his expectations.
“I don’t know if it can be done here at this competition because I am so fresh back in this competition, because I am so fresh. But coming back in July, that’s the plan,” he said.
Canada’s Eric Sehn was looking to secure a second Olympic berth in the men’s 10m preliminary, needing a top-18 finish to guarantee a spot. Twenty-ninth was not good enough, and he will need to compete in Sunday’s last-ditch chance, a dive-off, to secure one of the remaining tickets to the Games.
Riley McCormick, who secured one Olympic berth in the platform event for Canada at last year’s World Championships in Shanghai, finished 24th in London.
Heymans will partner with Jennifer Abel to compete in the synchronized 3m springboard event on Saturday, as the FINA Diving World Cup continues. The men’s 10m platform semi and final events are also scheduled for Saturday.
Jennifer Lukas is the Digital lead Aquatics producer for CTVOlympics.ca. She is in London this week, reporting on the FINA Diving World Cup and Olympic test event from the Aquatics Centre in Olympic Park. Follow her updates on Twitter at @JenniferLukas and join in the conversation at @CTVOlympics.
