Diving Plongeon Canada – This year’s Winter Senior Nationals began with divers turning sizzling performances in icy Saskatoon into nomination for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

It was a memorable Friday night for two teenagers.

Bryden Hattie, of Victoria, BC, and hometown sensation Rylan Wiens, from Saskatoon, Sask., lit up the men’s 10-metre synchro final with a winning score of 413.04 points.

It was a national record, eclipsing the previous mark of 408.87 points set by Olympians Philippe Gagné and Vincent Riendeau at 2015 Winter Nationals.

“I think all of Saskatoon came to watch me and Bryden,” said Wiens, 16, who grew up training at the Shaw Centre.

“Going into the last dive I knew we just had to do a decent dive and when we got out of the water and everybody was cheering,” said Wiens, who represents the Sask Diving Club.

“I don’t know how to describe it.”

Hattie, who represents Boardworks, was elated and described the competition as mentally challenging, “I was just really nervous because we’d never done a single competition together before,” said the 16 year-old.

He admits the enticement of a Commonwealth Games nomination was on his mind, “I was thinking about that and it was super scary,” said Hattie.

“It was a goal but I wasn’t thinking about the goal.”

In the women’s 1m final Éloïs Bélanger, from Montreal, won gold with 256.70 points, over 20 points clear of the next competitor.

Peter Thach-Mai, of Montreal, took the men’s 1m gold with 366.75 points.

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

Day 2 of Winter Senior Nationals is on Saturday with the men’s 3m, women’s 10m platform, and men’s and women’s 3m synchro.

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For more information:

Maelle Dancause

Manager, Communications

Diving Plongeon Canada

C: 514-475-4540 | maelle@diving.ca