Cédric Fofana took the top spot in the men’s open 3m final on Saturday at the FINA Virtual Diving Grand Prix. On the women’s side, Celina Toth, Kate Miller and Katelyn Fung all finished on the podium in the open platform final.

The Canadian edition of the 2021 FINA Diving Grand Prix, also known as the Canada Cup, is being hosted virtually. This is Diving Plongeon Canada’s second virtual competition that allows international athletes to compete against each other in real-time. The event features 34 athletes from 4 nations (GBR, CAN, SVK, USA), competing from 6 different locations.

Fofana (Montreal, QC) scored 393.65 in the open 3m final to secure the top spot on the podium.
“I am really happy that I got first because I knew I could do it,” said Fofana. “Being first really pushes me for the next event. I am more confident about the outcome of my performance. I felt great. I felt more confident than on Thursday. I was still a bit nervous. Overall, I am pretty satisfied.”

The 17-year-old was fourth following Thursday’s prelims where he scored 342.85.
“I was happy with my first three dives today because in prelims I missed them a bit,” he said. “The fifth one, I missed it, my knees buckled, and I fell a bit short in the water, but overall, everything was pretty consistent. Everything was pretty good.” 

Great Britain’s Cameron Gammage (392.15) and Hugo Thomas (369.40) finished second and third respectively. 
In the women’s open platform final, Toth (Victoria, BC) finished with a combined score of 314.35 to take the top spot while Miller (Ottawa, ON) took second with a score of 283.05 and Fung (London, ON) rounded out the Top 3 with a cumulative score of 277.50. 

“It was better than Thursday, I think,” said Toth. “Overall, happy that it was a little bit better, things were more consistent. My coach was saying I was more consistent today than I have been in other events that I’ve had this season so that was good. 

“My last dive was a little better than it was earlier, but still not super happy with it.”
Elaena Dick (Edmonton, AB) scored 229.00 and finished fifth.

At Thursday’s prelims, Toth (305.25), Fung (241.85) and Dick (226.70) finished first, second and third respectively while Miller was fifth with a combined score of 211.70.

“I think my tops and the energy that I had was better today than it was on Thursday. I think I was just a little bit sluggish on Thursday,” Toth said. “Today, I felt like I had a little bit more energy going into the event. I just missed my bottoms. 

“Getting back to the drawing board, that’s somewhere I can focus. It’s good to have something to work on going into trials.”

About the 2021 – FINA Virtual Diving Grand Prix – Canada

The FINA Virtual Diving Grand Prix – Canada runs May 27-30. The six competition sites include Saanich Commonwealth Place, Victoria, BC, Shaw Centre, Saskatoon, SK, Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Toronto, ON, Olympic Park Sports Centre, Montreal, QC, Forest Park Aquatic Center as well as Noblesville, IN (USA) and the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield, ENG (UK). The event includes 18 judges from across Canada, the UK and the USA who submit their scores in real-time through Integrated Sports Systems’ uJudge platform as thecompetition takes place. The Grand Prix is managed through five virtual locations across Canada; Results management (Montreal, QC), webstream production and graphics (Thunder Bay, ON), announcing (Kelowna, BC), judging coordination (Victoria, BC), and competition management (Ottawa, ON).

This event can occur in large part through important hosting grants that Diving Plongeon Canada received from Sport Canada’s International Single Sport Event program and Ontario’s Sport Hosting Program. About Diving Plongeon CanadaDiving 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

For more information:Jeff FeeneyDirector, Events and CommunicationsDiving Plongeon CanadaC: 613-668-9668 | jeff@diving.ca