Summer National Diving Championships (Day 3)
Wiens defends 10m Winter Nationals title; Vallée captures second gold at 2022 Summer National Diving Championships
VICTORIA, BC (Sunday, May 29, 2022) – Rylan Wiens of Pike Lake, SK defended his 10-metre Winter Nationals title on Sunday at the 2022 Summer Senior National Diving Championships taking place at Saanich Commonwealth Place, winning gold with a total score of 511.50. Mia Vallée of Kirkland, QC won gold in women’s 3-metre to complete her sweep of the women’s springboard events.
Wiens finished second behind Benjamin Tessier of Blainville, QC at the Futures Cup in the UK earlier this month, and so he was out here to prove that he deserved the top of the podium at this competition.
“There’s a lot of great divers in the Canadian men’s 10 meter right now – like there’s no shoo-ins that’s for sure,” said Wiens who was the only athlete to defend their Winter Nationals title at this competition. “I was after Ben, and every time he went, he hit the dive and it was so much pressure on me, but I like that kind of pressure because it was just what it’s going to be like at World Championships and all the other competitions like that so it’s good practice.”
Tessier finished up with the bronze medal today with a total score of 482.90. Tokyo 2020 Olympian Nathan Zsombor-Murray captured silver with a total score of 502.15.
By finishing 1-2 at this competition, both Wiens and Zsombor-Murray have booked their tickets for the 2022 World Championships taking place in Budapest, HUN which start on June 26th, running until July 3rd. Both also look promising to be named to the 2022 Commonwealth Games team which will be officially announced in the coming weeks.
There was a tough fight for gold in the women’s 3m with both Vallée and Margo Erlam of Calgary, AB fighting for the win. Vallée would eventually take gold, scoring a total of 335.20 to Erlam’s 333.95. Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympian Pamela Ware of Montreal, QC captured bronze with a total score of 310.90.
“I feel amazing,” said Vallée following the event. “I came in this weekend trying to make worlds – that was my goal but I never really would have thought that I would come away with two golds, so this is way better than anything I could have hoped for.”
With that gold medal finish on both 1m and 3m, Vallée has booked her ticket for the World Championships, along with Erlam who won gold on both 1m and 3m at Winter Nationals. Both also look to be shoo-ins for the Commonwealth Games team.
“I’m honoured to feel like I’ve gotten to this point in my career that I can consider that I’m competing with, instead of simply looking up to these great divers. It’s just amazing to be next to all these divers that are doing so well. And that’s another reason I’m super excited for Worlds and Commonwealth Games, because they’ll be my first ones and it’s going to be such an amazing opportunity to dive beside, and see how these divers who have been through so much, react to competition and stress and everything else, and maybe I’ll be able to learn something from them.”
Next up for many of these athletes though is the 2022 FINA Diving Grand Prix – Canada Cup taking place in Calgary, AB, from June 9th to 12th, where top divers from around the world will compete for medals and world ranking points. Tickets and schedule information are available at https://diving.ca/canadacup/.
For full results, please visit: https://diving.ca/summer-nationals-2022/
To watch the competition live, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/player/sports/diving
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For more information:
Maëlle Dancause
Manager, Communications
Diving Plongeon Canada
514-475-4540 | maelle@diving.ca