Mackenzie-Mai Van Houtte-Cachero made the most of the World Junior Diving Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to take part in her first-ever international final. The Quebec native took 11th place in the girls’ 14-15 age group 1 m springboard event with a total score of 286.70 points.
“I was so excited to participate in the World Junior Championships. It’s the biggest event I’ve ever been a part of in my career, and I’m grateful to have had the chance to live this experience and compete with the best in the world,” she declared a few minutes after the final.
Mexico’s Rut Elisa Paez Manjarrez won gold after tallying 338.00 points in the final. She was joined on the podium by American Kayla Jensen (321.80 points) and Ukrainian Kseniia Bochek (319.40 points).
In the final, Van Houtte-Cachero scored 49.40 on her first dive but struggled a little on her second attempt, only amassing 31.20 points.
However, she was able to bounce back on her third and final entry into the water. The judges rewarded her with a total of 48.00 points, which was the fourth best score of the round.
“I’m very happy with my performance, my goal was to give it my all and have fun, and I succeeded! After my second dive, I was a little disappointed, but I quickly pulled myself together and wanted to finish strong with my last dive. I told myself that not everyone has the chance to experience the World Championships, and I wanted to make the most of every second of this opportunity,” added Van Houtte-Cachero.
In the qualifying round held the day before, the Pointe-Claire diver had also placed 11th with 284.10 points, thus securing a place in the final.
Fellow Canadian Lila Gokiert (271.60 points) from Alberta missed out on the 12th and final qualifying spot by 6.20 points, finishing in 14th position.
On Monday, two Canadians were also in action in the boys’ 16-18 age group 3 m springboard qualifications. Ontario’s Emmitt Reesor was the top-ranked Canadian, finishing in 17th place (437.05 points).
Unfortunately, he couldn’t secure his spot in the top 12 to advance to the final, and neither did Arnaud Corbeil, who finished 23rd with 417.10 points.
On Sunday, Emmitt Reesor and Quebecer Samuel McCaffrey teamed up in the boys’ 3 m synchronized event in the 14-18 age group and took 6th place with a cumulative score of 251.07. Mexico’s duo comprised of Jesus Miguel Agundez Mora and David Gabriel Vazquez Cio claimed the top step of the podium.
In the 14-18 age group mixed team competition, Kash Tarasoff (Saskatchewan), Emmitt Reesor, Lila Stewart (Saskatchewan) and Lila Gokiert ended up in ninth place (301.40 points). In this event, in which athletes competed on the 3 m springboard and 10 m tower, the quartet from the USA (361.50 points) captured gold, while Australia (338.00 points) and Ukraine (329.40 points) claimed silver and bronze.
The action resumes on Tuesday with the girls’ 16-18 age group 1 m final and the boys’ 14-15 age group platform final.
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Alexandra Piché
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alexandra@diving.ca
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