Cedric Fofana is heading to his first Olympic Games after winning the men’s 3m final on Wednesday at the 2021 Canadian Diving Trials. On the women’s side, Pamela Ware and Jennifer Abel secured Olympic spots finishing one-two in the 3m final at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

The 2021 Canadian Diving Trials is an opportunity for Canadian divers to claim their Olympic spots ahead of the Tokyo Games. A total of six spots are up for grabs this week. 

Diving Plongeon Canada learned on June 25 that Thomas Ciprick’s 16th place finish in men’s 3m at the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup was enough to earn a quota spot from FINA. Once each country had submitted their Olympic Teams on June 21, FINA calculated how many accreditations were remaining and used the results from the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup to allocate leftover accreditations.

Diving Plongeon Canada’s Chief Technical Officer, Mitch Geller noticed a change in the mood before the competition with an Olympic spot on the line. 

“We did find out before and it went from quite a relaxed environment to a lot more intensity and you could see it play out,” Geller said. “The divers tightened up and that affects rhythm, it affects timing, it affects decision-making and we saw that. It’s just going to be a matter of experience for the boys as they start to try to climb the international ladder, which they will do.”

Fofana (Quebec City, QC) finished with a cumulative Olympic qualifying score of 842.40 to secure his first trip to the Games. 

“We know that he can be brilliant at times, and we know that he can be far less consistent than we’d like at times,” Geller said. “I was surprised by just how great he is capable of being right now. I guess it was just a little bit of further validation or realization the unbelievable talent Cedric represents.”

Fofana was first after Tuesday’s prelims and was behind François Imbeau-Dulac after the semifinals on Wednesday before retaking the lead in the final.

“The height he is able to achieve is mind-boggling,” said Geller. “When he gets the right take-off, lookout. He did a reverse-three-and-a-half, one of the toughest in the books in the 3m and was awarded some 10s on it and a 10 is something most athletes will never ever see in their entire career. He was able to achieve some 10s on one of the toughest dives off the springboard and followed it up with a sensational front-four-and-a-half. At 17-years-old, I would say he has a pretty bright future.”

On the women’s side, two spots were up for grabs and Ware (Greenfield Park, QC) secured the second Olympic berth of her career with an Olympic qualifying score of 716.10. 

“I felt really really good coming here,” Ware said. “The training has been the best it’s ever been. I feel the best I’ve ever felt so I was really excited to come here and compete. I’m a little frustrated with my last dive in the final, but I know what I did wrong, and I know how I can correct it.”

Abel (Montreal, QC) is heading to her fourth Games after finishing with a cumulative Olympic qualifying score of 700.65.

“I’m feeling great. I’m really relieved now I can really say that I’m going to go and take part in my fourth Olympic Games in individual competition,” said Abel. “Obviously, I would’ve loved to have not missed my second dive, but I haven’t been competing a lot like the other girls due to Covid-19 so just being able to come back from all of that and especially World Cup – I’m much better than what I was when I competed in World Cup so I’m on the right track for Tokyo.”

Full results: http://www.issmembership.com/diving/live/schedule.aspx

About Diving Plongeon Canada

Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) was established in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the growth and awareness of the sport in this country. As a member of FINA, the world’s governing body of aquatic sports, DPC contributes to the development of globally accepted standards of excellence in diving and supports the rules and regulations of international competition. Representing nine provincial diving associations, 67 local diving clubs and close to 4,000 high-performance athletes, DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation in the world. For information, visit www.diving.ca. 

-30-

For more information:

Jeff Feeney

Director, Events and Communications

Diving Plongeon Canada

C: 613-668-9668 | jeff@diving.ca