July 18, 2019
2019 FINA World Championships – Day 7
Diving Plongeon Canada – Canada added another two spots at Tokyo 2020 after Montreal’s Pamela Ware and Laval, Que.’s Jennifer Abel both managed to qualify for the final of the women’s 3m springboard on Thursday at the 18th FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Korea.
Abel, 27, finished fourth-place in the semifinal with 339.90 points while Ware, 26, was sixth with 308.00 points.
“The goal coming here was to be Top 12 to qualify an Olympic spot,” said Ware, “Now it’s really to compete in the final and do the best I can, hopefully Top 8 to qualify for the World Series.”
The World Series is the most-elite diving tour each season.
Abel, a three-time Olympian, described her day, “Today’s prelims were tough. I was diving towards the end and, during the last round of dives, I was seeing the other girls getting changed and packing their bags while I still had to dive.”
Abel said the afternoon semifinal was much easier, “Most of the girls that were diving towards the end are the same ones that I’m used to competing with at the World Series. It really helped me to stay focused and I think it showed in the quality of the dives we saw.”
Abel and Ware’s success follows that of teammates Meaghan Benfeito and Caeli McKay, who qualified Olympic spots for Canada in the women’s 10m platform earlier at FINA Worlds.
Abel also secured Olympic nomination along with Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu by winning the silver medal in the women’s 3m synchro springboard.
“I was really nervous about the Olympic qualification. I can finally clear my head and breathe. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity and now I feel like I can go into the final with nothing to lose,” said Abel of Thursday’s individual event.
On Friday, Canada’s Bryden Hattie and Vincent Riendeau will compete in the preliminary of the men’s 10m platform, while the final of the women’s 3m springboard will take place at 20:45 local time in Gwangju.
Full results can be found here:
http://www.omegatiming.com/2019/18th-fina-world-championships-dv-live-results
-30-
For more information:
Maëlle Dancause
Manager, Public Relations
Diving Plongeon Canada
C: 514-475-4540 | maelle@diving.ca